Promoting the green and low-carbon development of the economy and society is an important symbol of the new concepts and practices of the Party's governance in the new era, a key link in achieving high-quality development, a fundamental strategy for solving China's resource, environment, and ecological problems, and an inherent requirement for building a modernization where humans and nature coexist harmoniously. To accelerate the comprehensive green transformation of economic and social development, the following opinions are put forward.  

 I. General Requirements  

Adhere to the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, thoroughly implement the spirits of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China and the Second and Third Plenary Sessions of the 20th Central Committee, fully implement Xi Jinping's economic thought and ecological civilization thought, fully and accurately implement the new development concepts, accelerate the construction of a new development pattern, unswervingly follow the path of high-quality development that prioritizes ecology, conservation, and green low-carbon development, take the work of carbon peaking and carbon neutrality as the guide, synergistically promote carbon reduction, pollution reduction, green expansion, and growth, deepen the reform of the ecological civilization system, improve the mechanism for green and low-carbon development, accelerate the comprehensive green transformation of economic and social development, form a spatial pattern, industrial structure, production mode, and lifestyle that conserve resources and protect the environment, comprehensively promote the construction of a beautiful China, and accelerate the modernization where humans and nature coexist harmoniously.  

In work, we must:  

- Adhere to comprehensive transformation. Firmly establish the concept that lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets, integrate the requirements of green transformation into the overall economic and social development, promote green transformation in all aspects, fields, and regions, and build a community of life for humans and nature.  

- Adhere to coordinated transformation. Fully consider the actual development of different regions and industries, adhere to the combination of overall promotion and key breakthroughs, scientifically set the timetable, roadmap, and construction drawings for green transformation, and encourage qualified regions and industries to take the lead in exploration.  

- Adhere to innovative transformation. Strengthen scientific and technological innovation, policy and institutional innovation, and business model innovation that support green transformation, promote a green and low-carbon technological revolution, develop new productive forces in accordance with local conditions, improve the system of ecological civilization institutions, and provide stronger innovative momentum and institutional guarantees for green transformation.  

- Adhere to safe transformation. Coordinate the handling of relationships between development and emission reduction, overall and local, current and long-term, government and market, properly prevent and resolve internal and external risks and challenges faced by green transformation, effectively ensure food and energy security, industrial chain and supply chain security, and better protect people's production and life.  

The main goals are: By 2030, positive progress will be made in green transformation in key areas, green production and lifestyle will basically take shape, the ability to synergize pollution reduction and carbon reduction will be significantly enhanced, the efficiency of major resource utilization will be further improved, the policy and standard system supporting green development will be more complete, and significant results will be achieved in the comprehensive green transformation of economic and social development. By 2035, a green, low-carbon, and circular economic system will be basically established, green production and lifestyle will be widely formed, significant progress will be made in synergizing pollution reduction and carbon reduction, the efficiency of major resource utilization will reach the international advanced level, economic and social development will fully enter the green and low-carbon track, carbon emissions will stabilize and decline after peaking, and the goal of building a beautiful China will be basically achieved.  

 II. Building a Spatial Pattern for Green, Low-Carbon, and High-Quality Development  

(1) Optimize the pattern of territorial space development and protection. Improve the national unified, clear responsibility and authority, scientific and efficient territorial space planning system, strictly adhere to the three control lines of cultivated land and permanent basic farmland, ecological protection red lines, and urban development boundaries, and optimize the layout of various spaces. Improve the system of main functional zone systems, promote the comprehensive layout of main functions, refine the division of main functional zones, and improve differentiated policies. Accelerate the construction of a nature reserve system with national parks as the main body, nature reserves as the foundation, and various nature parks as supplements. Strengthen regional ecological and environmental control. Improve the system for the development and protection of marine resources, systematically plan the development and utilization of the ocean, and promote coordinated and sustainable development of land and sea.  

(2) Create highlands for green development. Strengthen regional collaboration in green development, promote coordinated development and collaborative transformation, and create growth poles and power sources for green, low-carbon, and high-quality development. Promote the coordinated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, improve the mechanism for coordinated ecological and environmental protection, and support Xiong'an New Area to become a model city for green development. Continue to promote the Yangtze River Economic Belt to focus on comprehensive protection, and explore new paths for ecological priority and green development. Further promote the construction of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area and the integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta, and build world-class green and low-carbon industrial clusters. Promote the construction of Hainan Free Trade Port and the ecological protection and high-quality development of the Yellow River Basin. Build a pioneer zone for a beautiful China. Continue to increase support for green transformation in resource-based regions and old revolutionary base areas, and cultivate and develop green and low-carbon industries.  


 III. Accelerating the Green and Low-Carbon Transformation of the Industrial Structure  

(3) Promote the green and low-carbon transformation and upgrading of traditional industries. Vigorously promote the green and low-carbon transformation of industries such as iron and steel, non-ferrous metals, petrochemicals, chemicals, building materials, papermaking, and printing and dyeing, popularize energy-saving, low-carbon, and clean production technology and equipment, and promote the upgrading of technological processes. Optimize production capacity scale and layout, continuously update binding standards for land, environment, energy efficiency, water efficiency, and carbon emissions, guide the optimization and upgrading of traditional industries through national standard improvement, and establish and improve a production capacity withdrawal mechanism. Reasonably raise the resource and environmental access thresholds for new, renovated, and expanded projects, and resolutely curb the blind launch of high-energy-consuming, high-emission, and low-level projects.  

(4) Vigorously develop green and low-carbon industries. Accelerate the development of strategic emerging industries, build a green manufacturing system and service system, and continuously increase the proportion of green and low-carbon industries in the total economy. Accelerate the cultivation of competitive green and low-carbon enterprises, and build a number of leading enterprises and specialized, sophisticated, distinctive, and novel small and medium-sized enterprises. Vigorously promote models such as energy performance contracting, water conservation management contracting, third-party governance of environmental pollution, and environmental trusteeship services oriented to environmental governance effects. Promote the high-quality development of the cultural industry and the in-depth integration of culture and tourism. Actively encourage the accelerated development of new industries, new forms, and new business models oriented to green and low-carbon development. By 2030, the scale of the energy conservation and environmental protection industry will reach about 15 trillion yuan.  

(5) Accelerate the coordinated transformation and development of digitalization and greenization. Promote the in-depth integration of industrial digitalization and intelligentization with greenization, deepen the application of artificial intelligence, big data, cloud computing, and industrial internet in power systems, industrial and agricultural production, transportation, building construction and operation, and other fields, and realize digital technology empowering green transformation. Promote various users to "go to the cloud, use data, and empower intelligence", and support enterprises to transform and upgrade traditional industries with digital intelligence technology and green technology. Promote the construction of green and low-carbon digital infrastructure, promote energy-saving and carbon-reducing transformation of existing facilities, and gradually eliminate "old, small, scattered" facilities. Guide digital technology enterprises to develop in a green and low-carbon manner, and help upstream and downstream enterprises improve their carbon reduction capabilities. Explore the establishment of efficient monitoring, active early warning, scientific analysis, and intelligent decision-making systems for environmental pollution and meteorological disasters. Promote the construction of a 3D China and the application of spatiotemporal information empowerment.  

 IV. Steadily Promoting the Green and Low-Carbon Transformation of Energy  

(6) Strengthen the clean and efficient utilization of fossil energy. Strengthen the construction of an energy production, supply, storage, and marketing system, adhere to establishing before abolishing, promote the safe, reliable, and orderly replacement of fossil energy with non-fossil energy, continuously optimize the energy structure, and accelerate the planning and construction of a new energy system. Resolutely control fossil energy consumption, further promote the clean and efficient utilization of coal, strictly and reasonably control coal consumption growth during the "14th Five-Year Plan" period, and gradually reduce it in the next five years. On the premise of ensuring energy security supply, continue to implement total coal consumption control in key regions, and actively and orderly promote the replacement of scattered coal. Accelerate the "three transformations in one" of energy-saving and carbon-reducing transformation, flexibility transformation, and heating transformation of existing coal-fired power units, and reasonably plan and construct regulatory and supporting coal-fired power necessary to ensure the safe operation of the power system. Increase efforts in oil and gas resource exploration, development, reserve increase, and production increase, and accelerate the integrated development of oil and gas exploration and development with new energy. Promote the construction of carbon dioxide capture, utilization, and storage projects.  

(7) Vigorously develop non-fossil energy. Accelerate the construction of clean energy bases such as wind and photovoltaic power in the northwest, hydropower in the southwest, offshore wind power, and coastal nuclear power, actively develop distributed photovoltaic and decentralized wind power, develop new energy such as biomass energy, geothermal energy, and marine energy according to local conditions, and promote the full-chain development of hydrogen "production, storage, transportation, and utilization". Coordinate hydropower development and ecological protection, and promote the integrated development of hydropower, wind, and solar energy. Actively, safely, and orderly develop nuclear power, maintain a reasonable layout and stable construction rhythm. By 2030, the proportion of non-fossil energy consumption will be increased to about 25%.  

(8) Accelerate the construction of a new power system. Strengthen the coordination of clean energy bases, regulatory resources, and transmission channels in terms of scale capacity, spatial layout, and construction rhythm, encourage the layout of natural gas peak-shaving power stations in areas where gas sources are available and gas prices are affordable, scientifically layout pumped storage, new energy storage, and solar thermal power generation, and improve the safe operation and comprehensive regulatory capacity of the power system. Build a smart grid, accelerate the construction of microgrids, virtual power plants, and source-grid-load-storage integration projects. Strengthen power demand-side management. Deepen the reform of the power system, and further improve the systems and mechanisms adapted to the new power system. By 2030, the installed capacity of pumped storage will exceed 120 million kilowatts.  

 V. Promoting Green Transformation of Transportation  

(9) Optimize the transportation structure. Build a green and efficient transportation system, improve the national railway, highway, and water transportation networks, promote the reasonable division of labor and effective connection of different transportation modes, and reduce empty load rates and unreasonable passenger and freight turnover. Vigorously promote the development of multimodal transport with "single bill" and "single box" systems, accelerate the construction of dedicated freight railways and inland high-grade waterway networks, promote the construction of railway dedicated lines for major ports, large industrial and mining enterprises, and logistics parks, increase the proportion of green collection and distribution, and continuously increase the proportion of railway and waterway transportation of bulk goods. Optimize civil aviation routes, and improve the electrification and intelligent level of airport operations.  

(10) Build green transportation infrastructure. Improve the green and intelligent level of new stations, airports, wharves, and expressway facilities, promote energy-saving and carbon-reducing transformation and upgrading of existing transportation infrastructure, build a number of low-carbon (near-zero carbon) stations, airports, wharves, and expressway service areas, and develop photovoltaic power along expressways according to local conditions. Improve the infrastructure network such as charging (swapping) stations, hydrogen (alcohol) refueling stations, and shore power, and accelerate the construction of urban intelligent transportation management systems. Improve the urban and rural logistics distribution system, and promote the green and intelligent transformation of distribution methods. In-depth implementation of the strategy of giving priority to urban public transport, and improve the level of public transport services. Strengthen the construction of urban slow traffic systems such as pedestrian walkways and bicycle lanes.  

(11) Promote low-carbon transportation tools. Vigorously promote new energy vehicles, and promote the electrification replacement of urban public service vehicles. Promote ships, aircraft, non-road mobile machinery, etc., to use clean power, accelerate the elimination of old transportation tools, promote zero-emission freight, strengthen the research and application of sustainable aviation fuels, and encourage the research, production, and application of net-zero emission marine fuels. By 2030, the carbon emission intensity per unit converted turnover of operating transportation tools will decrease by about 9.5% compared with 2020. By 2035, new energy vehicles will become the mainstream of newly sold vehicles.  

VI. Promoting Green Transformation of Urban and Rural Construction and Development  

(12) Implement green planning and construction methods. Fully implement the requirements of green transformation in all links of urban and rural planning, construction, and governance. Advocate green and low-carbon planning and design concepts, strictly adhere to urban development boundaries, control the excessive growth of new construction land, protect and restore ecological spaces such as green spaces, water areas, and wetlands, and reasonably plan areas with concentrated noise-sensitive buildings. Promote the construction of climate-resilient cities and enhance urban and rural climate resilience. Promote green construction methods, give priority to green building materials, and deepen the comprehensive management of dust pollution.  

(13) Vigorously develop green and low-carbon buildings. Establish a building energy efficiency rating system. Increase the proportion of star-rated green buildings in new buildings, and promote the large-scale development of ultra-low energy consumption buildings. Accelerate the energy-saving, water-saving, and carbon-reducing transformation of existing buildings and municipal infrastructure, and popularize advanced and efficient lighting, air conditioning, elevators, and other equipment. Optimize the energy structure for buildings, promote building-integrated photovoltaic construction, promote the application of "photovoltaic-storage-direct-current-flexible" technology, and develop clean and low-carbon heating.  

(14) Promote green development in agriculture and rural areas. Implement actions to reduce emissions and sequester carbon in agriculture and rural areas, optimize the planting and breeding structure, popularize high-quality crop and livestock varieties and green and efficient planting and breeding technologies, and promote the reduction and efficiency of agricultural inputs such as chemical fertilizers and pesticides. Establish and improve a system for collecting, utilizing, and treating agricultural wastes such as crop straw, agricultural film, pesticide packaging waste, and livestock and poultry manure, and strengthen the control of straw burning. Further promote the improvement of rural human settlements, and cultivate new industries and new forms of rural green development. Develop and utilize renewable energy according to local conditions, and orderly promote clean heating in rural areas.  

 VII. Implementing a Comprehensive Conservation Strategy  

(15) Vigorously promote energy conservation, carbon reduction, and efficiency improvement. Do a good job in energy conservation at a high level and with high quality, promote energy-saving and carbon-reducing transformation in key industries, and accelerate the upgrading of equipment and products. Build a carbon emission statistics and accounting system, strengthen energy conservation review of fixed-asset investment projects, explore project carbon emission evaluation, and strictly control the energy consumption and carbon emissions of new projects. Promote enterprises to establish and improve energy-saving and carbon-reducing management mechanisms, popularize the "diagnosis + transformation" model for energy conservation and carbon reduction, and strengthen energy conservation supervision.  

(16) Strengthen resource conservation, intensive, and efficient utilization. Improve the system for total resource management and comprehensive conservation, strengthen the whole-process management and full-chain conservation of various resources such as water, food, land, and minerals. Implement the rigid constraint system for water resources, develop water-saving industries, strengthen the utilization of unconventional water sources, and build a water-saving society. Implement the Anti-Food Waste Law, improve the long-term mechanism for food and food conservation, and carry out food conservation actions. Implement the strictest farmland protection system and the system for economical and intensive use of land, popularize land-saving technologies and models, optimize the development and utilization of existing land, and improve the efficiency of marine space utilization. Strengthen the exploration, protection, and rational development of mineral resources, improve mining efficiency, and strengthen the utilization of low-grade resources.  

(17) Vigorously develop the circular economy. Further promote the action of circular economy to help reduce carbon emissions, popularize resource-recycling production models, vigorously develop the resource recycling industry, promote the high-quality development of the remanufacturing industry, improve the quality of recycled materials and products, and expand the scale of substitution for primary resources. Promote domestic waste classification and improve the resource utilization rate. Improve the waste recycling system, strengthen the classification, disposal, and recycling capacity of waste, and improve the scale, standardization, and refinement level of recycling. By 2030, the annual utilization of bulk solid waste will reach about 4.5 billion tons, and the output rate of major resources will be about 45% higher than that in 2020.  

 VIII. Promoting Green Transformation of Consumption Patterns  

(18) Popularize green lifestyles. Vigorously advocate simple, moderate, green, low-carbon, civilized, and healthy living concepts and consumption patterns, integrate green concepts and conservation requirements into social norms such as civic conventions, village regulations, student codes, and group charters, and enhance the whole people's awareness of conservation, environmental protection, and ecology. Carry out nationwide green and low-carbon actions, guide the public to save water and electricity, oppose extravagance and waste, promote the "clean plate" campaign, resist excessive packaging, reduce the use of disposable products, guide the public to prefer green travel methods such as public transport, walking, and cycling, extensively carry out patriotic health campaigns, promote the solution to environmental problems around the people such as noise, oil fume, and odor, and form a social atmosphere that advocates ecological civilization.  

(19)Enhancing policy exchanges and practical cooperation. We will expand multilateral and bilateral dialogue and cooperation channels, strengthen the building of multilateral cooperation platforms in the field of green development, vigorously publicize China's achievements in green transition, and actively learn from international experience. We will strengthen cooperation in green investment and trade, advance the development of the "Green Silk Road", deepen practical cooperation with relevant countries, improve the environmental sustainability of overseas projects, and encourage the import and export of green and low-carbon products. We will strengthen cooperation in green technologies, encourage universities and research institutions to carry out academic exchanges with foreign counterparts, and actively participate in international big science projects. We will enhance international cooperation on green standards and conformity assessment, participate in the formulation and revision of relevant international standards, and promote the alignment and mutual recognition of rules on carbon footprints and other aspects with major trading partners.
XII. Organization and Implementation

(32) Upholding and strengthening the Party's overall leadership. Under the centralized and unified leadership of the Party Central Committee, we will accelerate the comprehensive green transition of economic and social development, and ensure that the Party's leadership is implemented throughout the entire process and all aspects of the work. All regions and departments shall clarify the key tasks of green transition in their respective regions and departments, and earnestly implement this Opinion in light of actual conditions. Relevant units, people's organizations, and social organizations shall actively promote green transition in their respective fields. The National Development and Reform Commission shall strengthen overall coordination, work with relevant departments to establish a new mechanism for the comprehensive transition from dual control of energy consumption to dual control of carbon emissions, formulate and implement a comprehensive evaluation and assessment system for carbon peak and carbon neutrality, conduct scientific assessments, and strengthen the application of evaluation and assessment results. Important developments shall be reported to the Party Central Committee and the State Council in a timely manner in accordance with procedures.

(33)Strengthening legal safeguards. Relevant units shall accelerate the formulation and revision of laws and regulations such as the Code of Ecological Environment, Energy Law, Energy Conservation Law, Electric Power Law, Coal Law, Renewable Energy Law, and Circular Economy Promotion Law, and study and formulate special laws on climate change response and carbon peak and carbon neutrality. We will implement the green principles of the Civil Code, and guide civil subjects to save energy and resources and protect the ecological environment. We will improve the mechanism for linking administrative law enforcement with criminal justice. We will conduct litigation on compensation for ecological and environmental damage and public interest litigation in the field of ecological, environmental, and resource protection in accordance with the law, and improve the mechanism for compensation and restoration of ecological and environmental damage.