The “1+6” foundational policy framework has provided institutional and legal safeguards for a unified national power market. In 2025, China’s power market reform focuses on three key priorities aiming to drive the development of China’s power market towards greater efficiency and flexibility:
- achieving nationwide spot market coverage- and advancing inter-regional trading;
- promoting renewable energy integration mechanisms and ancillary service systems;
- strengthening digital supervision and risk prevention capabilities.
In the third quarter of 2025, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and the National Energy Administration (NEA) released two key policies, accelerating progress towards a unified national electricity market.
Basic Rules for Power Market Measurement and Settlement
As the last policy of the “1+6” framework, the “Basic Rules for Power Market Measurement and Settlement”, taking effect on 1 October 2025, standardises metering, verification, and settlement procedures for power providers, trading centres, aggregators (VPPs), energy storage operators, and grid companies. By enforcing stricter error margins (≤0.5%) and implementing a “daily clearing, monthly settlement” model in spot market areas such as Guangdong, the new rules significantly reduce capital lockup periods by 7–10 days and improve transparency through dedicated settlement accounts.
Since 2023, China advanced towards a national unified power market through various new policies and rules. The new policy developments from 2025 represent the final policy puzzle piece of the “1+6” policy framework, establishing clear operational standards across all market entities, including aggregators and new energy storage providers. The “1+6” policy framework covers:
- “1″: Basic Rules for the Operation of the Electricity Market (05/2024) and “6” specific rules:
- Basic Rule for the Power Spot Market (Trial) (09/2023)
- Basic Rule for Information Disclosure in the Power Market (01/2024)
- Basic Rule for Medium- and Long-Term Power Transactions – Special Chapter on Green Power Transactions (08/2024)
- Basic Rule for Power Market Registration (09/2024)
- Basic Rule for Power Ancillary Services Market (04/2025)
- Basic Rule for Power Market Measurement and Settlement (08/2025)
Plan for Regularised Power Transactions Across Grid Operating Areas
At the same time, the “Plan for Regularised Power Transactions Across Grid Operating Areas” is dismantling long-standing barriers between the State Grid and China Southern Power Grid. For the first time, electricity transactions across the grid zones of these two companies can proceed under unified trading rules. This breakthrough policy eliminates administrative interference, ensures platform interoperability, and introduces mutual recognition of market participant registration.
Recent market developments
Current trends indicate strong momentum building in the first half of 2025. National market transactions reached 2,950 TWh, an increase of 4.8% compared to last year. 25% of all electricity traded in the market is transmitted across provincial and regional boundaries, marking an 18.2% year-on-year increase. Furthermore, green power trades from January to June 2025 reached 154 TWh, soaring by 49.3% compared to the first six months of 2024.
Provincial updates
On 7 August 2025, Zhejiang became the seventh province in China to declare full operation of its power market, following Shanxi, Guangdong, Shandong, Gansu, Western Inner Mongolia, and Hubei. As a result, among the first batch of eight power spot market pilots, only Fujian and Sichuan are yet to transition to full operation. With these provincial spot markets now in full operation and broader inter-regional coordination under way, China is taking steps towards its vision of a fully integrated power market by 2029.
