Source: Xinhua April 22,2026

https://www.news.cn/politics/20260422/bca992cf4b9d4df5aeac7d23231d0419/c.html

The General Office of the CPC Central Committee and the General Office of the State Council recently issued the Opinions on Doing Energy Conservation and Carbon Reduction Work at a Higher Level and Higher Quality. Why were the Opinions issued? What key tasks do they lay out? A responsible official of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) offered an interpretation on April 22.

近日，中共中央办公厅、国务院办公厅印发《关于更高水平更高质量做好节能降碳工作的意见》。为何印发意见？意见部署哪些重点任务？国家发展改革委有关负责人22日进行了解读。

Q: What is the background for the issuance of the Opinions?

问：意见出台的背景是什么？

A: Since the start of the 14th Five-Year Plan period, localities and departments have thoroughly implemented the decisions and arrangements of the Party Central Committee and the State Council, earnestly carried out the comprehensive conservation strategy, and solidly advanced society-wide energy conservation and carbon reduction, achieving notable results; the nationwide 14th Five-Year Plan targets for reducing energy intensity and carbon emission intensity were both smoothly met.

答："十四五"以来，各地区、各部门深入贯彻落实党中央、国务院决策部署，认真落实全面节约战略，扎实推进全社会节能降碳，取得显著成效，"十四五"全国能耗强度和碳排放强度降低目标均顺利完成。

At the same time, China's energy conservation and carbon reduction situation remains fairly grim. The national conditions — an energy mix tilted toward coal, an industrial structure weighted toward heavy industry, and tight environmental constraints — have not changed; the share of fossil fuels and traditional industries is still relatively high; the foundations for steady improvement in ecological and environmental quality are still not firm; and the all-around green transition of economic and social development still faces many difficulties and challenges.

与此同时，当前我国节能降碳形势依然较为严峻，能源结构偏煤、产业结构偏重、环境约束偏紧的国情没有改变，化石能源和传统产业占比仍然较高，生态环境质量稳中向好的基础还不牢固，经济社会发展全面绿色转型仍面临不少困难挑战。

The 15th Five-Year Plan period is the decisive stage for achieving carbon peaking. The issuance of the Opinions by the General Offices of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council makes systematic arrangements for advancing energy conservation and carbon reduction under the new circumstances, clarifying the overall requirements, key tasks, and implementation paths. This is of major significance for building society-wide consensus on a broader scale and with greater force, and for better harnessing the supporting role of energy conservation and carbon reduction in advancing carbon peaking and carbon neutrality, safeguarding national energy security, and achieving high-quality development.

"十五五"时期是实现碳达峰的决胜阶段。中办、国办印发意见，对推进新形势下的节能降碳工作作出系统部署，明确了总体要求、重点任务和实施路径，对于更大范围、更大力度凝聚全社会共识，更好发挥节能降碳对推进碳达峰碳中和、保障国家能源安全、实现高质量发展等方面的支撑作用具有重要意义。

Q: What key tasks do the Opinions lay out?

问：意见部署了哪些重点任务？

A: The Opinions lay out key tasks in five areas:

答：意见部署了5个方面的重点任务：

First, coordinated advancement of energy conservation and carbon reduction alongside the green transition. This means coordinating energy conservation and carbon reduction with industrial optimization and upgrading: strengthening the alignment and coordination of energy-conservation and carbon-reduction policies with industrial planning and capacity controls; reinforcing the incentive, restraint, and standards-led guidance functions of energy conservation and carbon reduction; supporting the use of digital-intelligent and green technologies to retrofit and upgrade traditional industries; effectively controlling energy-intensive and high-emission projects; vigorously developing green and low-carbon industries; freeing up ample space for high-quality projects that genuinely need to move forward; and cultivating new green drivers for economic and social development. It also means coordinating energy conservation and carbon reduction with the green transition of the energy sector: properly handling the relationship between energy conservation and carbon reduction on the one hand and energy security on the other, accelerating the building of a new-type energy system, and steadily raising the country's energy self-sufficiency rate.

第一，协同推进节能降碳与绿色转型。统筹节能降碳与产业优化升级。加强节能降碳与产业规划、产能调控等政策衔接协同，强化节能降碳激励约束和标准提升引领，支持运用数智技术、绿色技术改造提升传统产业，有力有效管控高耗能高排放项目，大力发展绿色低碳产业，为确需上马的高质量项目腾出充足空间，为经济社会发展培育新的绿色动能。统筹节能降碳与能源绿色转型。处理好节能降碳和能源安全的关系，加快建设新型能源体系，持续提升我国能源自给率。

Second, vigorously advancing energy conservation and carbon reduction in key areas. In industry, energy efficiency in steel, nonferrous metals, petrochemicals, chemicals, building materials, and other key sectors will be comprehensively raised, and a batch of industrial energy-conservation and carbon-reduction projects will be organized and implemented. In buildings, energy-efficiency management of new buildings will be tightened, and energy-saving and carbon-reduction retrofits of existing buildings will be actively advanced. In transport, rail and waterway transport will be vigorously developed, and the efficiency and greenness of road transport will be steadily improved. In digital infrastructure, energy-saving and carbon-reduction retrofits of computing power, communication base stations, and data-center facilities will be advanced, and the development of green, low-carbon, intensive, and circular computing-power infrastructure will be supported. In public institutions, energy-saving and carbon-reduction retrofits of public institutions will be advanced, and quota-based management of their energy use will be strengthened.