This article examines the specifics of legal regulation of sustainable development in China and Russia. This topic is exceptionally relevant today since legal regulation of this area should create effective frameworks for the relationship between people and nature. The authors draw attention to the fact that sustainable development is better implemented when it is supported both by international standards and, necessarily, by national laws. The approaches then that China and Russia, both member countries of the BRICS bloc, are taking in implementing sustainable development are of importance, and thus described and contrasted in this study. To do so, the authors apply the comparative legal analysis, which makes it possible to distinguish both the advantages of international and national systems and the disadvantages. Based on their methodology, the authors formulate possible recommendations for each nation.