Carbon Peaking and Carbon Neutrality China's Plans and Solutions

IV. Effective Implementation of Major Pathways to Carbon Emission Reduction

Energy conservation is key to reducing carbon emissions at source; the circular economy plays a crucial role in facilitating their reduction; and improving the carbon sink capacity of ecosystems is a vital path for emission reduction and carbon sequestration. China has yielded positive outcomes in its actions for saving energy, reducing carbon dioxide emissions, and improving efficiency; for facilitating further emission reductions through the circular economy; and for consolidating and improving carbon sink capacity.

1. Advancing Energy Saving, Carbon Reduction, and Efficiency Improvement Actions

China is committed to prioritizing energy conservation by transforming its energy consumption patterns to build an energy-saving society, as evidenced by a total of 11.6 percent decrease in energy consumption per unit of GDP in the first four years of the 14th Five-year Plan period after deducting energy used as raw materials and non-fossil energy consumption.

Significant improvement in energy conservation management. China continues to improve its laws, regulations, and standards on energy saving as it works towards forming a mature and efficient management system. It has established and improved the framework of energy-saving checks on fixed-asset investment projects. Since 2020, it has conducted supervision on industrial energy conservation at over 20,000 enterprises and performed diagnosis on industrial energy conservation and carbon reduction at over 12,000 enterprises and industrial parks. Clear requirements have been set for energy conservation management of key industries and enterprises, and meticulous and targeted energy-saving management of major energy consumers has been strengthened. Additionally, the country has applied market-oriented mechanisms such as energy performance contracting to motivate businesses. Currently, the total turnover of the energy conservation service industry has exceeded RMB500 billion, with new investment in energy performance contracting surpassing RMB170 billion in 2024.

Full implementation of key projects for saving energy and reducing carbon emissions. China is implementing energy-saving and carbon-reducing transformations in key industries to upgrade energy consumption management and unlock the potential for systematically conserving energy and reducing carbon emissions. The implementation of energy conservation and carbon reduction projects in industrial parks has enabled upgrades and cascade utilization of the energy system. Currently there are 491 national-level green industrial parks in China; their energy consumption per unit of industrial added value has dropped to two-thirds of China's average level.

Breakthroughs in energy saving and efficiency improvement of key equipment. China is scaling up the deployment and application of advanced and high-efficiency energy-saving equipment. Through large-scale equipment renewal, over 20 million units (sets) of equipment in key sectors were upgraded in 2024, saving energy equivalent to 25 million tonnes of standard coal. Energy efficiency standards have been comprehensively upgraded for products with a focus on electric motors, industrial fans, pumps, compressors, transformers, heat exchangers, boilers, among others. By the end of 2024, the energy efficiency labeling system had covered all key energy-using products and equipment across 44 categories in five major energy-consuming sectors.

Panel 2 Critical Battle to Conserve Energy and Reduce Carbon Emissions in Coal-Fired Boilers

Boilers are highly energy-intensive but essential for power, heat supply, petrochemical and chemical, and other industries as well as in the residential sector. To improve their energy efficiency, China has initiated a comprehensive, long-term project to conserve energy and reduce emissions of coal-fired boilers based on a higher standard. This project phases out outdated coal-fired boilers in favor of alternatives such as electricity, natural gas, or industrial waste heat, and upgrades existing boilers that fail to meet ultra-low emission requirements. As a result, the average operating thermal efficiency of industrial boilers in China has increased by 4.2 percentage points since 2021, contributing to an accumulated carbon emission reduction of over 300 million tonnes.

2. Significantly Reducing Carbon Emissions Through the Circular Economy

China continues to develop its circular economy to make more efficient use of resources, coordinating reductions in both resource consumption and carbon emissions.

Optimization of waste recycling management system. China has introduced targeted policies and measures on the management of waste from various sources and continued to develop its waste recycling system to realize precise management and effective recycling. In the industrial sector, measures have been taken to better oversee the production and disposal of general industrial solid waste, and further progress has been made in the category-specific collection and storage of industrial waste. In the agricultural sector, a mechanism to collect and dispose of agricultural waste such as livestock and poultry waste and crop straw has been established and streamlined, and the recycling of used agricultural items has seen significant improvement. In people's daily life, a three-tier recycling network comprising collection points, stations, and centers has been developed to standardize the recycling of waste and used items. By the end of 2024, there were approximately 150,000 collection points and about 1,800 large-scale sorting centers of various types nationwide.

Steady improvement in waste utilization. China has applied tailored policies for different forms of waste to facilitate the standardized, large-scale and clean use of renewable resources. To date, some 100 recycling centers have been built across the country for the comprehensive utilization of bulk solid waste. In 2024, comprehensive utilization rate of the seven types of bulk solid waste, including coal gangue, coal ash, and mine tailings, reached 59 percent, an increase of 3 percentage points compared with 2020. The processing of renewable resources and the promotion and application of their products continue to be encouraged and strengthened throughout the country. In 2024, more than 400 million tonnes of major renewable resources were reused, including waste iron and steel, non-ferrous metals, paper, rubber, and glass. A total of 8.46 million scrap vehicles and 630,000 tonnes of waste household appliances were recycled in a standardized manner, representing year-on-year increases of 64 percent and 20 percent, respectively. China also provides strong support for its remanufacturing industry, which achieved an output value exceeding RMB200 billion in 2024 alone.

Panel 3 Exploration and Practices in Plastic Waste Recycling

Local governments across China have explored various ways to recycle waste plastic, achieving remarkable results and contributing significantly to the global effort in this regard. One successful example is Zhejiang's pioneering Blue Circle Project. It adopts a model of "government guidance + market operation" to motivate coastal residents to collect marine plastic waste, and applies the technologies of blockchain and Internet of Things to realize whole-process visual traceability covering collection, recycling, remanufacturing and resale. This project continues to make a vital contribution to the recycling of marine plastic waste and won the United Nations' 2023 Champions of the Earth Award.

3. Improving Natural Ecosystems' Carbon Sink Capacity

By staying committed to systems thinking, China ensures integrated conservation and management of mountains, waters, forests, farmlands, grasslands, and deserts, which helps to boost the carbon sink capacity of ecosystems. It is the first country to realize zero net land degradation, and its desertified and sandified areas are both shrinking, contributing to approximately one-fourth of the world's newly added green areas over the past two decades.

Optimized pattern of carbon sequestration through ecosystems. China takes rigorous measures to protect the space of natural ecosystems and reduce the occupation of these areas by human activities. It has established a nationwide unified territorial space planning system that is science-based, efficient, and built upon clearly defined powers and responsibilities. This system draws three red lines for arable land and permanent basic cropland, eco-environmental protection, and boundaries for urban development, and setting protection lines for all types of sea areas. The protected areas system includes mainly national parks, supported by nature reserves and supplemented by natural parks. As part of China's ecosystem-protection efforts, the first five national parks have been built, along with approximately 10,000 protected areas of various levels and types, covering some 18 percent of the country's land area. These actions have enhanced the stability and service functions of ecosystems.

Steady increase in the carbon sink capacity of ecosystems facilitated by human interventions. A number of major projects for protecting and restoring key ecosystems have been launched across China, including greening programs to increase the country's total volume of forest and grassland and leverage the critical function of forest carbon sinks. Today, China has achieved the highest growth in forest coverage in the world, and boasts the largest area of man-made forests. In 2024, forests covered 25.09 percent of China's territory, with a forest stock of over 20.9 billion cu m, while grassland vegetation coverage reached 50.52 percent. China's forests and grasslands now absorb and store over 1.2 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent annually. The country is also focusing on improving aquatic environments, water resources, and aquatic ecosystems by strengthening comprehensive ecological governance of rivers, lakes and oceans. By the end of 2024, its wetland area totaled over 53.3 million hectares, ranking first in Asia and fourth globally.

Panel 4 Desertification Control in Taklimakan Desert — A Chinese Green Miracle

Situated in the center of the Tarim Basin in Xinjiang, the Taklimakan Desert is China's largest desert and the world's second largest shifting sand desert. The annual precipitation in this area is approximately 50 mm, while evaporation exceeds 2,500 mm, leading to an average of 145.6 dust storm days per year, which severely impacts people's production and livelihoods.

To combat this, China is dedicated to blocking the spread of sand from the desert fringe by expanding forestry and grasslands where suitable and leaving natural wastelands untouched. It has employed engineering-based, biological and photovoltaic desertification controls to build the world's largest encircling desert ecological barrier, with a total length of 3,046 km. Afforestation over the years has added nearly 4.7 million hectares of green areas. These efforts have enhanced China's biological carbon sink potential and created a new miracle in desertification control.

Steady progress of carbon reduction and sequestration in agriculture. China pursues green, low-carbon and circular agriculture. In 2024, the comprehensive utilization rates of crop straw and livestock and poultry waste were around 88 percent and 80 percent, respectively. It supports the development of low-carbon agricultural models, including agrivoltaic farming and "photovoltaics + facility agriculture", and promotes efficient fertilization techniques and the replacement of chemical fertilizers with organic ones, aiming to control greenhouse gas emissions from crop production at a reasonable level. The country has also advanced energy conservation and carbon reduction in agricultural machinery through tailored actions to develop compound, efficient, and new energy-powered equipment while phasing out outdated equipment with high energy consumption, high emissions, and low safety performance. The conservation project of chernozem soil remains ongoing, efforts to restore degraded arable land have been intensified, protection-oriented farming continues to be practiced, the carbon sink capacity of farmland soil has been improved, and planting adaptability has been enhanced nationwide. Additionally, ecological fisheries are being developed in large water bodies to cultivate the industry's carbon sink potential.