POLICY NEWS

On 23 October 2025, the Communist Party of China (CPC) adopted its recommendations for the 15th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development (2026–2030). The recommendations intend to scale up renewable energy supply, ensure the substitution of fossil fuels, and improve the flexibility and resilience of the national power system. Climate priorities include strengthening carbon governance, enhancing carbon market mechanisms, and building resilience against climate risks. The State Council is now developing the draft outline of the 15th Five-Year Plan, based on the CPC recommendations. During the two sessions in March 2026, the draft outline of the 15th FYP will be reviewed, voted on and potentially adopted before being officially released.

Following the announcement to establish a domestic carbon footprint management system in 2024, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE), the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), and five other government bodies jointly issued the “Guidelines for the Construction of Product Carbon Footprint (PCF) Factor Database” on 12 December 2025.

China’s Ministry of Finance (MoF) issued the “Sustainability Information Assurance Services Standards No. 6101 — Basic Standards (Trial)” in January 2026, following the launch of the Corporate Sustainability Disclosure Standards series in 2024-2025. This establishes a unified regulatory framework for sustainability assurance in China, filling a national regulatory gap in the market and completing the institutional chain from corporate sustainability disclosure to third-party verification.

On 9 October 2025, China’s Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) issued the “Guideline for the Implementation Assessment of Provincial Spatial Ecological Restoration Plans (Trial)” which aims to standardise the evaluation of provincial ecological restoration initiatives. The assessment introduces a system of 39 indicators to measure progress, benefits, and overall success of restoration efforts at the provincial level. Assessments will be led by provincial natural resources departments with cross-departmental support and will occur every five years, integrating results into the national spatial planning system. The new guideline complements the “Guide for the Compilation of Provincial Spatial Ecological Restoration Plans” (July 2025) and focuses on the evaluation phase.

On 31 October 2025, Premier Li Qiang signed State Council Decree No. 820, promulgating the “Regulations on Environmental Monitoring”, which entered into force on 1 January 2026. The regulations establish a unified national environmental monitoring system covering environmental quality, pollution sources, and ecological risks and set out a comprehensive framework

On 17 November 2025, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE) released the “Allocation Plan for the National Carbon Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) for the Steel, Cement, and Aluminium Smelting Industries for 2024-2025”. This marks the first inclusion of these high-emission sectors into China’s national ETS. The plan is developed in accordance with the Interim Regulations on Carbon Emissions Trading and relevant sectoral implementation documents, aiming to standardise compliance and improve market mechanisms.

At the climate summit held on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly on 24 September, President Xi Jinping presented China’s updated Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC), which were subsequently submitted to the United Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) on 3 November.

On 25 August 2025, China has issued new policy guidance entitled “Opinions on Advancing Green and Low-Carbon Transition and Strengthening the National Carbon Market”. The document outlines how the country intends to expand the scope and improve the governance of its mandatory national Emissions Trading System (ETS) and voluntary carbon market (VCM), with the goal of building a more effective and internationally credible carbon pricing framework. A central feature is the gradual shift from intensity-based controls to absolute emissions caps in major industrial sectors. 

On August 25, 2025, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE), the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) jointly released the “Action Plan for Nitrous Oxide Emission Control in the Industrial Sector”. The plan aims to align China’s industrial policy with its long-term climate goals. It emphasises the green and low-carbon transformation of industry, while also positioning nitrous oxide (N₂O) management as a priority in the country’s strategy for tackling climate change. N₂O (commonly known as “laughing gas”), is a greenhouse gas nearly 300 times more potent than CO₂ and is often released during industrial processes.