# China deposits its instrument of ratification of the Paris Agreement

Date: 2016

## The fact

On 3 September 2016 China deposited its instrument of ratification of the Paris Agreement with the UN Secretary-General, jointly with the United States at a G20-eve ceremony in Hangzhou.

## Context

Xi and [Barack Obama](/people/barack-obama) appeared together. The NPC Standing Committee had approved. The UNFCCC depositary records the act. He did not write the Agreement text. Later NDC updates are neighbouring later instruments.

The 12 December 2015 Paris adoption is a neighbouring earlier multilateral instrument. The 2020 UNGA 2060 pledge is a neighbouring later speech.

The General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party, concurrently President of the People’s Republic of China and Chairman of the Central Military Commission, can set the Politburo agenda, nominate the State Council leadership, and command the armed forces. He does not write UN General Assembly resolutions, OHCHR assessments, WHO emergency-use listings, or Hong Kong ordinances by himself.

## Evidence and sources

United Nations carries the official instrument or communique. Reuters records the same dated act independently.

## Significance

The path is decarbonisation policy: a completed ratification by the largest emitter is a dated legal participation, not a delivered 1.5°C path.

## What is established and what is not

Established: a 3 September 2016 deposit of China’s Paris ratification, recorded by the UN Treaty Collection and by independent wires.

Not established: that China’s later coal build was thereby forbidden, or a unique same-day gigatonne coefficient.

What would change the picture: a contradictory original with a different date or name, a later repeal, a court that vacated the instrument, or a measured series that can be argued, with lag and alternatives, as a consequence of this instrument rather than of later institutions.

The date is the date of this instrument, not a licence to back-date every later harm or benefit.

The NPC Standing Committee had approved. The depositary recorded. He did not write the treaty text.. A later repeal, court stay, or successor order would be a different Fact with a different date.

Co-authors and later implementers named in Context remain on the file. China deposits its instrument of ratification of the Paris Agreement on 2016-09-03 is not a licence to treat every later United Nations communique as this same act. This dossier refuses to average China deposits its instrument of ratification of the Paris Agreement into a personality. The contribution described on this Person row is limited to He deposited as head of state with Obama. The NPC Standing Committee had approved. The depositary recorded. He did not write the treaty text. That limit is the alternative to treating office-holding as authorship of every later series. The National People’s Congress, the State Council, provincial governments, the People’s Liberation Army, Hong Kong’s executive, and foreign counterparties share specific files. Allegation is not a completed judgment. An OHCHR assessment is not a criminal conviction. A white paper is not a census. A UN pledge is not a delivered emissions path.

## People

- Xi Jinping: https://factrail.ai/people/xi-jinping

## Drivers

- Decarbonization and climate-mitigation policy: https://factrail.ai/drivers/env-decarbonization-policy

## Sources

- https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-climatechange-idUSKCN11900H
- https://treaties.un.org/Pages/ViewDetails.aspx?src=TREATY&mtdsg_no=XXVII-7-d&chapter=27

## Methodology

https://factrail.ai/methodology

Canonical: https://factrail.ai/facts/cn-paris-ratification-2016