China Approves Four-Year Hydrogen Pilot for Five City Clusters Including Xinjiang-Chengdu-Chongqing

In August 2026, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Finance and the National Development and Reform Commission jointly issued a notice on launching a comprehensive hydrogen application pilot, approving a four-year pilot in five city clusters including the Xinjiang-Chengdu-Chongqing economic circle. As one of the two cores of the Chengdu-Chongqing economic circle, Chengdu is following a development approach of building clusters and strengthening chains, using scientific and technological innovation and high-end equipment manufacturing as its levers to build a full-chain ecosystem covering production, storage, transport, refueling and use, spanning basic research, technical breakthroughs, industrial conversion and scenario application.

Chengdu has more than 100 hydrogen enterprises, including 51 above-designated-size industrial enterprises, 65 national high-tech enterprises, 11 national little-giant specialized and innovative enterprises, and 7 listed companies. In 2025, Chengdu's above-designated-size hydrogen industrial revenue reached RMB 19.06 billion, with a compound annual growth rate of 18% over the past five years.

The city has promoted nearly 1,500 fuel cell commercial vehicles, which have run more than 5.5 million kilometers. These include 680 medium- and heavy-duty logistics vehicles, 250 cold-chain logistics vehicles, 150 urban logistics vehicles, 80 construction waste transport vehicles, 20 sanitation vehicles, and more than 300 buses. Chengdu has eight hydrogen refueling stations, each with a daily refueling capacity of more than 500 kilograms, covering six key areas, with terminal hydrogen prices stable at RMB 30 per kilogram.

On the Chengdu-Chongqing hydrogen corridor, Sichuan and Chongqing have jointly built 41 hydrogen refueling stations and promoted more than 2,000 hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, with annual freight volume exceeding 220 million tonnes. On the same Chengdu-to-Panzhihua route, the fuel cost of a hydrogen heavy truck is less than RMB 1,300, saving RMB 600 to 800 compared with a diesel truck. Combined with Sichuan's policy of exempting hydrogen vehicles from highway tolls, a single trip saves about another RMB 1,800 in tolls, for net savings of RMB 2,400.

Around the national comprehensive hydrogen application pilot goals, Chengdu has proposed building the Chengdu-Chongqing hydrogen corridor into a demonstration highland for national hydrogen industry innovation and development by 2030. Chengdu is promoting connections between hydrogen equipment enterprises and logistics scenarios and financial institutions, launching financial products such as hydrogen vehicle loans and hydrogen vehicle insurance, advancing industrial application scenarios such as hydrogen metallurgy and green ammonia and methanol, and building an industry-education integration system for training hydrogen talent.

Chengdu has proposed that, based on building the full hydrogen industry chain and with the Chengdu-Chongqing economic circle as the overall driver, it will focus on key areas such as fuel cell vehicles, green ammonia, hydrogen blending in combustion and innovative application scenarios, and pursue systematic planning, full-chain coordination and citywide layout to promote high-quality hydrogen development. The aim is to build a main base for supplying technology and equipment for hydrogen production, storage, transport and refueling in the city cluster, a benchmark city for fuel cell vehicle application in western China, a city coordinating the advancement of hydrogen highways, and a dual core for citywide hydrogen innovation scenarios.