Measurable policy helps turn climate objectives into results

When China announced on Sept 22, 2020, that it would strive to peak carbon dioxide emissions before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality before 2060, some observers thought it was an ambitious statement. Six years later, the more important story is how that ambition is being translated into governance, industry and markets, and how a steady rather than disruptive transition can align climate action with development.

The 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30) period is China's last five-year planning window before the deadline for carbon peaking is reached. The projects for this period are therefore a test of whether the goals are being turned into measurable and executable tasks. They also offer a useful reference for other countries seeking to advance their low-carbon transition without undermining energy security or development needs.

China's approach is notable in that it does not hinge on policy orders or market forces alone. Instead, it shows that climate action and development are not mutually exclusive. In 2025, China's GDP grew by 5 percent, while energy consumption per unit of GDP fell by 5.1 percent and carbon dioxide emissions per unit of GDP dropped by 5 percent, showing that growth, energy efficiency and lower carbon intensity can advance together.

The national plan for tackling climate change, jointly issued by 19 departments in July, shows how climate governance is becoming more precise. Alongside the goal of cutting carbon dioxide emissions per unit of GDP by 17 percent before 2030, it sets a more revealing indicator: carbon dioxide emissions per unit of product in sectors covered by the national carbon market are to fall by about 3 percent from 2025, a remarkable shift.

That makes one ask: how much carbon dioxide is released to produce a kilowatt-hour of electricity, a metric ton of steel, cement or aluminum? The national carbon trading market, which now covers power generation, steel, cement and aluminum smelting sectors, is the main mechanism driving this reduction.

In 2025, annual trading of carbon emissions allowances reached 235 million tons, up 24.36 percent year-on-year, marking a record high since the market began operations in July 2021. That means companies that cut emissions more efficiently can gain from the market, while those lagging behind face stronger incentives to improve.

The industrial green and low-carbon development plan, issued by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology in July, calls for green factories to contribute a much larger share of manufacturing output, from 30 percent in 2025 to 45 percent by 2030.

By 2025, China had cultivated 8,336 national-level green factories. The energy consumption per unit of industrial added value of these green factories was about two-thirds of the average level of large industrial enterprises, their water use about one-fourth, and their comprehensive utilization rate of solid waste exceeded 95 percent.

The clean-energy build-out has also become an industrial growth story. In 2025, exports of new energy vehicles, lithium batteries and photovoltaic products were about 3.5 times the 2020 level.

China's planning also reflects a sober understanding that climate action is not only about mitigation. The national climate plan emphasizes adaptation, including climate risk assessment, responses to extreme weather and adaptation measures for natural ecosystems, economic and social systems, and key regions. This is particularly relevant for developing countries, many of which face rising climate risks while pursuing industrialization.

China's phased, steady and non-radical pace has also helped dispel a concern shared by many developing countries: that the low-carbon transition must come at an unbearable cost to growth.

The larger lesson is not to copy every Chinese policy, but to see how long-term goals can be translated into plans, indicators, factory standards, energy-system targets and carbon-market rules. Climate ambition becomes executable when it is made governable, measurable and economically workable. That is a practical path for moving toward carbon neutrality in an orderly way.