China unveils 2030 carbon peaking action plan, sets course for sweeping energy usage overhaul

• • China to reduce CO2 emissions per unit of GDP by 17% from 2025 levels

• • Stricter emissions standards, equipment-level retrofits mandated for steel sector

Mysteel Global: China’s State Council released its carbon peaking action plan for the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-2030) on 9 July 2026, setting binding targets and measures to peak national carbon emissions by 2030.

The plan requires China to cut carbon dioxide emissions per unit of GDP by 17% from 2025 levels by 2030, while raising the share of non-fossil energy consumption to 25%. It also targets a roughly 10% reduction in energy consumption per unit of GDP over the same period.

To support this, China aims to bring wind and solar installed capacity to at least 2.8 billion kW by 2030, with conventional hydropower capacity targeted at around 410 million kW and operating nuclear capacity at around 110 million kW.

The plan calls for a deeper clean substitution of coal consumption, including tighter control over coal power capacity growth, low-carbon retrofits of coal-fired power units, and the elimination of coal-fired boilers of 10 tonnes of steam per hour or below.

For industrial enterprises above the designated size, carbon dioxide emissions per unit of value-added output must decline by more than 17%, and energy consumption per unit of value-added output by more than 10%, over the five-year period. Energy savings from retrofits in key industries are targeted at more than 150 million tonnes of standard coal equivalent.

Steel, cement, and aluminium smelting are already covered by China’s national carbon market since a 2025 expansion, and the plan calls for further market expansion to the petrochemical and chemical sectors, with covered industries required to cut per-unit-product carbon emissions by around 3% during the period.

The steel sector is specifically named for equipment-level retrofits. The plan calls for energy-saving and carbon-reduction upgrades to blast furnaces and converters, along with auxiliary equipment including motors, water pumps, fans, boilers, oxygen generators, air compressors and transformers, and promotes waste heat recovery in the steelmaking process.

On new capacity, any new, expanded or renovated “two-high” (high energy consumption, high emissions) industrial projects must meet carbon emission equivalence or reduction substitution requirements.

The plan sets a target of building around 100 national-level zero-carbon industrial parks and 500 zero-carbon factories during the period. By 2030, China also targets a forest stock volume of 22.4 billion cubic metres and aims for the new energy vehicle fleet share to reach 30%, with new energy commercial transport vehicles reaching a 25% share.

Beyond the 2030 carbon peak target, China has set 2060 as its goal for carbon neutrality.

Note: This article has been published as part of a content exchange agreement between Mysteel Global and BigMint.