China Issues 15th Five-Year Plan for Green Industrial Growth, Targeting 2030 Carbon Peak

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has recently issued the "15th Five-Year Plan for Industrial Green and Low-Carbon Development" to accelerate the green transformation of industry, promote a carbon peak in a proactive and steady manner, and support the comprehensive green transition of the economy and society. Industry is the most concentrated sector for energy consumption and carbon emissions in China, accounting for about two-thirds of total social energy use and 70% of national carbon emissions. High-energy-consuming sectors such as steel, chemicals, nonferrous metals, and building materials have significant emission reduction potential and heavy transformation tasks, making them the main battlefield for achieving carbon peak and carbon neutrality goals.

During the 14th Five-Year Plan period, energy consumption per unit of value-added output for industrial enterprises above a designated size fell by 13.5%. The comprehensive energy consumption per unit of product for steel and cement clinker generally reached advanced world levels, and the capacity share of energy-efficiency benchmark levels in nonferrous metal smelting such as copper, lead, and zinc exceeded 50%. The application of green energy has become more widespread; for example, in the electrolytic aluminum industry, one ton of aluminum is produced using green electricity for every four tons produced. In 2025, the comprehensive utilization rate of bulk industrial solid waste exceeded 57%, the annual recycling volume of 10 types of renewable resources, including scrap steel and nonferrous metals, reached about 400 million tons, and the utilization volume of waste power batteries from new energy vehicles exceeded 400,000 tons, becoming an important raw material in production processes. Industrial water efficiency continued to improve, with water consumption per 10,000 yuan of value-added output falling 25% from the end of the 13th Five-Year Plan period, forming a new pattern of efficient wastewater recycling in major water-using industries.

The plan focuses on cultivating and expanding green productivity, coordinating the green transformation of industries and the industrialization of green sectors, and systematically deploying seven major tasks: implementing one action, enhancing four capabilities, and improving two systems. Specifically, it includes deepening the industrial carbon peak action, enhancing the capacity for green value creation, the supply capacity of green equipment and products, the capacity for green and low-carbon technology innovation, and the capacity for intelligent and green integrated development, as well as improving the industrial resource recycling system and the green manufacturing and service system.

Progress has been made in energy conservation and carbon reduction in key industries. In 2025, production and sales of new energy vehicles exceeded 16 million units, accounting for over 70% globally, while the production and capacity of photovoltaic cells and modules each accounted for over 80% globally, and key components of wind turbines held about 70% of the global market share. Traditional industries continued to optimize, with comprehensive energy consumption per unit of product for cement, calcium carbide, caustic soda, electrolytic aluminum, synthetic ammonia, and flat glass falling by 12.1%, 8.4%, 7.9%, 3.4%, 2.2%, and 3.3%, respectively. In the petrochemical industry, in terms of deep process decarbonization, the first ethylene electric cracking furnace unit in China was successfully put into operation at Dushanzi Petrochemical, and with green electricity access, it can achieve near-zero emissions in the cracking process. For system-wide energy conservation and carbon reduction, equipment upgrades, energy system optimization, and digital-intelligent management were implemented for existing units, while new processes with short flows were created for incremental units using direct crude-to-chemicals, advanced catalysts, and digital twin technology.

Energy consumption by data centers has drawn increasing attention. In 2025, China's computing facility electricity consumption reached 170 billion kWh, accounting for about 1.6% of total social electricity use, making green and low-carbon development a rigid requirement. This data center, with ultra-low latency of less than 5 milliseconds, directly reaches the computing demand hub in Wuhan, effectively resolving the mismatch between computing supply and demand in Hubei Province.

The plan proposes that by 2030, the industrial structure and energy mix will be further optimized, carbon dioxide emissions in the industrial sector will peak, energy and resource efficiency will steadily improve, the share of green energy applications will significantly increase, the green manufacturing and service system will be more complete, and the competitive advantages of green and low-carbon industries will be consolidated and enhanced. Specific targets include reducing energy consumption per unit of value-added output and carbon emissions of industrial enterprises above a designated size by more than 10% and 17%, respectively, from 2025 levels, both higher than the national reduction targets. The plan also calls for formulating guidelines for the construction of relevant standard systems, accelerating the formulation and revision of key standards for energy conservation and carbon reduction, water conservation and pollution reduction, comprehensive resource utilization, and green manufacturing, and leveraging standards to guide industrial green and low-carbon development through standard setting, benchmarking, and implementation. In addition, it strengthens the linkage between industrial policies and energy, technology, fiscal, and financial policies, and uses government green procurement, green consumption incentives, and green financing connections to mobilize multiple sources of funds, forming a synergistic policy effect to support industrial green and low-carbon development.