On May 15, 2015, the Nanping Intermediate People’s Court in Fujian Province conducted the first-ever Chinese trial involving environmental civil public interest litigation. The case, which concerned resource destruction and environmental restoration related to an illegal mining site, was heard under China’s new Environmental Protection Law, a strongly worded mandate that includes, among other potentially far-reaching provisions, a right of standing for nongovernmental organizations to bring environmental cases. While China’s long-term commitment to environmental protection through judicial action is not yet clear, this case, and others still pending, may one day be seen as a pivotal turning point in Chinese environmental litigation.