First Plenary Meeting of the Carbon Peaking and Neutrality Leading Group Held

In January 2025, China’s State Council approved the Implementation Opinions on Building Pioneer Demonstrations for a Beautiful China, setting the stage for integrating high-quality development with ecological protection. Focusing on green and low-carbon growth, biodiversity conservation, and ecological governance, the plan targets key regions like the Yangtze River Delta, Greater Bay Area, and Yellow River Basin. By 2027, these pilot projects will serve as national benchmarks under the Beautiful China Initiative. Closely aligned with the Urban-Act Project, this initiative accelerates climate-resilient urban planning and sustainable development.

By March 2025, the State Council of the People’s Republic of China had approved 40 territorial spatial master plans for provinces, provincial capitals, and municipalities for the period 2021–2035. Among these are the recently endorsed plans for Xi’an and Xiamen, which were selected as low-carbon and climate-resilient pilot cities under the IKI Urban-Act project. These plans lay out a spatial governance framework that integrates ecological, agricultural, and urban spaces, aiming to safeguard national food security and ecological integrity while supporting sustainable urban and regional development over the medium and long term.

On 27 January 2025, China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and the National Energy Administration (NEA) jointly issued a policy titled “Notice on Deepening the Marketisation Reform of Feed-in Tariffs for New Energy to Promote High-Quality Development of New Energy”. This policy marks a shift in China’s approach to pricing wind and solar power, transitioning from fixed tariffs to a market-based system.