Abstract: Since 1994, China's CBM regulation has experienced the three stages of beginning, developing and improving. In more than 20 years, great achievements have been made with the formation of the framework of the legal regulation of CBM, independent industrial status of CBM,and the establishment of the mechanism of competition in foreign cooperation. Currently, legal regulation of CBM takes on the characteristics of incentive legal regulation with the soft law playing an important role. The main problems are insufficient hard law and the poor regulation effect, and the conflicting value orientations which make it difficult to form a joint force. The legal regulation of CBM has evolved from the control type to the incentive type, and from harmful and waste gas to clean energy. The coal bed methane law system can be promoted from the three aspects of dispute resolution mechanism, the unification of legal regulation and legal regulation system.

Key words: coal bed methane, coal, soft law, hard law, clean energy