With the acceleration of deep-sea development, the conflict between discharge risks and legal regulatory conflicts arising from deep-sea mining in international seabed area needs to be resolved. To this end, starting with a fundamental interpretation of mining discharges, a systematic review of the game process for mining discharge regulations within the "region" was conducted, revealing the fragmented and ambiguous nature of the current international legal framework. By analyzing the challenges in applying the international legal regime for mining discharges, the disconnect between domestic and international laws, and the lag in environmental risk prevention mechanisms, the key difficulties in governance were identified. It further proposes establishing a collaborative mechanism for legal interpretation under a dynamic system, advancing substantive development through inter-convention institutional cooperation, and designing tiered and categorized risk prevention and emergency response mechanisms to achieve coordinated optimization of mining discharge regulations. Against the backdrop of China's strategic requirements, the nation can transition from a rule-follower to a rule-setter by revising domestic deep-sea mining legislation, deepening regional cooperation, and actively championing proposals such as the "negative list" on international platforms. This approach not only offers a viable solution for the negotiation and cooperation on deep-sea mining discharge regulations within the "area", but also provides a practical model for global governance.

International seabed area  /  Deep-sea mining  /  Mining discharge regulations  /  Environmental protection  /  China's solution