This study examines the long-term evolution of China’s environmental governance from 1949 to 2025. It argues that environmental governance has developed in close alignment with the country’s broader trajectory of socialist modernization and economic transformation. Environmental policy expanded beyond end-of-pipe pollution control to include energy-intensity targets, the promotion of renewable energy, and preventive governance instruments. More recently, the concept of ecological civilization has provided an integrated normative and institutional framework that embeds environmental protection within the national development strategy. The study draws on historical institutional analysis of environmental legislation and national planning documents, combined with descriptive analysis of environmental performance indicators such as CO₂ emissions and GDP. While implementation challenges remain, China’s evolving institutional capacity and policy innovation have positioned it as an influential actor in global climate and sustainability governance, integrating legal, institutional, and empirical viewpoints. The study suggests that China’s policymaking has gradually evolved toward more preventive and system-oriented environmental governance.