Notice from the National Development and Reform Commission and other departments on issuing the "Action Plan for Implementing the Comprehensive Conservation Strategy"

Notice from the National Development and Reform Commission and Other Departments on Issuing the Action Plan for Implementing the Comprehensive Conservation Strategy

NDRC Environmental & Resource [2026] No. 1424

To the Development and Reform Commissions, Departments of Industry and Information Technology, Departments of Natural Resources, Departments (Bureaus) of Water Resources, and Administration of Government Affairs of all Provinces, Autonomous Regions, and Directly Administered Municipalities:

In order to promote the economical and intensive use of various resources, safeguard national resource security, accelerate the comprehensive green transformation of economic and social development, the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Natural Resources, the Ministry of Water Resources, and the State Administration of Government Affairs have formulated the "Action Plan for Implementing the Comprehensive Conservation Strategy." This plan is hereby issued to you; please implement it conscientiously in light of your actual circumstances.

National Development and Reform Commission

Ministry of Industry and Information Technology

Ministry of Natural Resources

Ministry of Water Resources

State Administration of Government Affairs

September 29, 2026

Action Plan for Implementing the Comprehensive Conservation Strategy

Resource conservation is a fundamental national policy of China. To promote the economical and intensive use of various resources, safeguard national resource security, accelerate the comprehensive green transformation of economic and social development, and advance high-quality development, this plan is formulated to deepen the implementation of the comprehensive conservation strategy.

I. Overall Requirements

Guided by Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, thoroughly implementing the spirit of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China and all plenary sessions of the 20th Central Committee, fully, accurately, and comprehensively applying the new development philosophy, firmly establishing a resource outlook of conservation, intensification, and circular utilization, integrating resource conservation into every stage and field of economic and social development, promoting total resource management, scientific allocation, comprehensive conservation, and circular utilization, improving the efficiency of energy, water, food, land, mineral, and raw material utilization, and providing solid resource guarantees for building a modern socialist country in all respects.

By 2030, the comprehensive conservation system will be further improved, resource utilization efficiency will significantly increase, and China's energy consumption, water usage, and construction land use per unit of GDP will decrease by approximately 10%, 10%, and 15% respectively compared to 2025 levels. Loss rates across all links of the grain industry chain will continue to decline, annual recycling of major secondary resources will reach 510 million tons, and a social ethos that champions conservation will be further established.

II. Deepening Energy Conservation and Efficiency Improvement

Place energy conservation as a top priority in achieving carbon peak and carbon neutrality goals, carry out energy saving and carbon reduction work at higher standards and greater quality, focusing on addressing issues such as the blind launch of high-energy-consuming and high-emission projects and insufficient potential for energy-saving and carbon-reduction upgrades, and continuously enhance energy utilization efficiency.

(I) Curb unreasonable growth in total energy consumption. Strengthen source-level oversight for energy saving and carbon reduction, strictly enforce energy conservation reviews and carbon emission assessment measures for fixed asset investment projects, reinforce comprehensive reviews and assessments of project energy, coal, and carbon emissions, mandate carbon emission offsetting or reduction replacement for new (renovated, expanded) high-energy-consuming and high-emission industrial projects, and effectively control such projects. In key national air pollution prevention areas, newly built (renovated, expanded) coal-using projects must legally implement coal equivalent or reduced substitution. Vigorously promote clean replacements for coal-fired boilers and industrial kilns, completely phase out coal-fired boilers of 10 steam tons/hour and below. Accelerate heating retrofits for coal-fired units and related pipeline network construction, retiring old, inefficient coal-fired units and boilers. Orderly phase out inefficient coal-fired facilities and equipment used in agriculture, commerce, and residential applications.

(II) Aggressively advance energy conservation in key sectors. Focus on key industries such as steel, nonferrous metals, petrochemicals, chemicals, and building materials, implementing tailored energy-saving and carbon-reduction upgrades for each sector to continuously improve energy efficiency levels. Actively promote energy-saving and carbon-reducing renovations of existing buildings, fostering large-scale development of ultra-low energy consumption buildings. Promote energy-efficient and low-carbon transportation tools, rationally optimize vehicle energy consumption limit requirements, vigorously develop new energy heavy trucks and green fuel ships. Increase efforts to tap potential through energy-saving and carbon-reducing renovations in public institutions, promoting third-party governance models such as energy performance contracting (EPC / EMC). Advance energy-saving and carbon-reducing upgrades for infrastructure such as computing power, communication base stations, and server rooms, optimizing energy consumption structures. Improve energy production efficiency, strengthen low-carbon retrofits for coal-fired units, and steadily reduce overall grid line loss rates. By 2030, energy consumption per unit of added value in large-scale industries will decrease by more than 10% compared to 2025 levels, with energy savings exceeding 150 million tons of standard coal achieved through targeted energy-saving and carbon-reduction upgrades in key industries.

III. Strengthening Economical and Efficient Water Resource Utilization

Adhere to the principle of determining urban development, land use, population size, and industrial layout based on available water resources, implement zoned management and precise policies, focusing on resolving issues such as imperfect water conservation systems and structural water scarcity conflicts, and foster water-conserving production and lifestyle patterns.

(III) Fully implement the rigid water resource constraint system. Strictly enforce dual controls on total water usage and intensity, scientifically set control targets, improve the three-tier administrative regional water quota management indicator system covering river basins and provincial, municipal, and county levels, adopt differentiated water intensity controls, and promote the establishment of a water budget management system. Establish and improve planning-related water resource justification systems involving development and utilization, strengthen water resource justification and water abstraction permit management for construction projects, rigorously supervise water abstraction activities during and after implementation, conduct credit evaluations in the water abstraction field, and deeply implement and refine the system requiring simultaneous design, construction, and commissioning of water-saving facilities alongside main engineering works. Intensify water conservation and control efforts in water-scarce regions such as the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei area and the Yellow River Basin, strictly controlling the blind launch of high-water-consuming projects.

(IV) Advance deep water conservation in key sectors. Enhance agricultural water efficiency, establish sound scientific irrigation systems, improve water metering and monitoring frameworks, promote water-saving irrigation technologies, and guide crop planting and production according to available water resources. Drive industrial water conservation and emission reduction, continuously implement industrial water efficiency improvement campaigns, strengthen enterprise water management and water-saving technology upgrades, promote wastewater recycling, enhance water-saving equipment supply capabilities, and vigorously develop the water-saving industry. Facilitate urban water conservation and loss reduction, address water leakage in distribution networks, ensure all new (renovated, expanded) public buildings fully utilize water-saving fixtures, strictly control water usage in high-water-consuming service industries, and tightly regulate landscape water use such as artificial rivers and lakes in water-scarce areas. Incorporate non-conventional water sources into unified water resource allocation and advance their development and utilization. By 2030, increase the effective utilization coefficient of farmland irrigation water to 0.60, and reduce water consumption per ten thousand yuan of industrial added value by 10% compared to 2025 levels.

IV. Deepening Grain Conservation and Anti-Food Waste Efforts

Uphold the principle that conservation and loss reduction equate to increased production, focusing on addressing high losses during grain storage and prominent food waste in certain sectors, consolidating phased achievements in grain conservation and anti-food waste initiatives.

(V) Strengthen conservation and loss reduction during production and storage. Target relatively weak areas in mechanical harvesting loss reduction, implement precise strategies by crop and region, and promote the application of harvesters suitable for hilly and mountainous terrain. Establish a number of post-harvest grain service contact points, actively guide farmers in scientific grain storage, and gradually resolve the issue of "grain piled directly on the ground." Deeply implement the grain green storage improvement campaign and accelerate the construction of high-standard granaries.

(VI) Reduce losses during transportation and processing. Deeply advance the construction and renovation of dedicated railway lines, specialized docks, bulk grain transshipment facilities, and supporting infrastructure to minimize grain handling operations, vigorously developing multimodal grain transport. Enhance the stability and processing precision of domestically produced grain processing equipment, reasonably determine processing accuracy indicators, and guide moderate processing. Vigorously implement the National Whole Grains Action Plan to promote efficient utilization of grain resources and healthy nutritional consumption among residents.

(VII) Resolutely curb catering consumption waste. Reinforce the principal responsibility of catering service operators, strengthen reminders for ordering appropriate amounts based on demand, clearly label dish specifications, actively promote smaller portion sizes, and proactively suggest packing leftover food. Encourage catering service operators hosting banquets to agree with consumers on obligations against catering waste. Intensify supervision and inspection of anti-food waste compliance, promptly correcting and investigating violations according to law. Curb lavish feasts and extravagant waste. Reduce takeout ordering waste, guiding online catering platforms and merchants to promote smaller portions and prevent "full discount combo" inducements toward excessive ordering, exploring ways to improve anti-food waste content within consumer feedback evaluation mechanisms.

V. Promoting Economical and Intensive Land Use

Adhere to strict total quantity control, revitalizing existing stock, optimizing structure, and improving efficiency, focusing on resolving issues such as inadequate land use control systems, insufficient regulatory oversight, scattered layouts of existing construction land, and extensive utilization practices, thereby accelerating the formation of intensive and efficient land use patterns.

(VIII) Enforce strict land use control. Implement differentiated, refined land use controls by zone and category, firmly uphold the red line for arable land protection, and strictly manage urban development boundaries. Except for major national projects, comprehensively prohibit land reclamation from the sea. Optimize territorial spatial layout, strengthen strategic implementation of functional zones, enhance monitoring and evaluation of territorial spatial planning implementation, and improve dynamic assessment and adjustment mechanisms. During the "Fifteenth Five-Year Plan" period, cap new construction land expansion at 26 million mu.

(IX) Raise the level of intensive and efficient utilization. Explore implementing a planned-period-based total construction land control model, adopting integrated supply strategies for both existing and incremental land. Advance mixed land development, composite spatial utilization, and lawful, reasonable conversion of land uses, appropriately developing underground space. Coordinate forest and grassland protection with utilization, encouraging replenishment through ecological restoration and other methods. Conserve and intensively develop marine resources, orderly advancing layered, three-dimensional marine utilization, and establishing an exit mechanism for inefficient marine use.

(X) Revitalize and utilize existing land. Steadily carry out comprehensive land remediation across entire regions, conserving and intensively utilizing rural collectively-owned construction land for business purposes, legally revitalizing and making good use of idle rural land. Implement special governance for industrial park land, repurposing existing industrial land for strategic emerging industries, advanced manufacturing, and productive services. Increase efforts to dispose of idle land, deepening and expanding pilot programs for redevelopment of inefficient land.

VI. Enhancing Mineral Resource Development and Utilization Levels

Adhere to innovation-led, conservation-intensity, and safety-guarantee principles, focusing on addressing issues such as low exploration and mining efficiency, low-grade ores, difficult beneficiation and smelting, and subpar comprehensive utilization of associated minerals, thereby accelerating the green and low-carbon transformation of the mining industry.

(XI) Promote green exploration and mining. Fully advance green exploration, popularizing intelligent and environmentally friendly exploration and development technologies and equipment. Accelerate green mine construction, ensuring that newly built mines achieve green status within one to two years of official operation, while speeding up green upgrades for operating mines. By 2030, over 90% of licensed large operating mines and over 80% of medium-sized mines will meet green mine standards, with small mines strengthening management in accordance with green mine benchmarks.

(XII) Strengthen comprehensive mineral resource utilization. Systematically promote economical and intensive utilization of mineral resources, enhancing high-quality, efficient comprehensive utilization of important strategic minerals, reinforcing incentive and restraint mechanisms for key indicators such as mining recovery rates, ore dressing recovery rates, and overall utilization rates. Deepen re-evaluations of strategic mineral-associated and low-grade resources, encouraging comprehensive utilization of associated minerals. By 2030, increase the comprehensive utilization rate of major nonferrous metal-associated minerals by 2–3 percentage points compared to 2025 levels.

VII. Strengthening Raw Material Conservation and Recycling

Adhere to reduction, reuse, and resource recovery principles, advancing raw material conservation during production and manufacturing, vigorously developing the circular economy, focusing on resolving issues such as incomplete solid waste recycling systems, and continuously improving waste recycling frameworks.

(XIII) Promote green design and green manufacturing. Widely implement product green design, issue industrial product green design guidelines, promote the use of materials with low (or zero) volatile organic compound content, advocate packaging and printing designs that reduce volume and color, and strengthen governance against excessive commodity packaging. Deeply advance clean production in key industries, intensifying mandatory clean production audits in priority sectors and improving environmental performance in these industries. Refine the green manufacturing system, continuously building green supply chains. Improve green product certification and labeling systems.

(XIV) Accelerate enhancement of resource recovery levels. Deeply advance quality and efficiency improvements in comprehensive utilization of bulk solid wastes across industrial, urban, agricultural, and forestry sectors, strengthen tailings recycling, and improve classification and grading management systems for bulk solid wastes. Refine and standardize recycling networks for industrial-side and socially-sourced waste. Strengthen recycling of "urban minerals" such as scrap steel, end-of-life vehicles, and discarded electronic appliances. Vigorously promote recycling of "new three items" and other solid wastes, constructing full lifecycle management systems for new energy vehicle power batteries, refining decommissioning and scrapping regulations for wind and photovoltaic equipment. Accelerate deployment of several rare and precious metal resource recycling projects, advancing valuable component recovery and high-value utilization. Promote recycling of waste plastics and used textiles. By 2030, annual utilization of bulk solid wastes will reach approximately 4.5 billion tons.

(XV) Continuously expand reuse scale. While ensuring zero import of solid waste, orderly proceed with importing and utilizing high-quality overseas recycled resources, optimizing recycled raw material inspection and supervision models, and studying the placement of overseas high-quality recycled raw material distribution and processing hubs in eligible regions. Implement upgraded recycled material application campaigns in industries such as automobiles, home appliances, and daily chemicals, leveraging leading enterprises' roles to raise the proportion of recycled material usage.

VIII. Cultivating a Social Atmosphere That Champions Conservation

Adhere to leadership by public institutions, public participation, and social co-governance, focusing on resolving persistent wasteful phenomena in daily life, creating a strong atmosphere of practicing thrift and opposing waste, and continuously strengthening public awareness of conservation.

(XVI) Strengthen demonstration leadership by public institutions. Strictly enforce requirements for Party and government organs to live frugally, comprehensively building cost-saving agencies. Public institutions lead by example in conservation, strictly enforcing mandatory government procurement and priority purchase systems for energy-saving products, applying advanced energy-saving and water-saving technologies and products, strengthening energy consumption quota management, promoting green travel and green office practices, and intensifying effectiveness assessments and public reporting on anti-food waste efforts in institutional canteens.

(XVII) Promote green lifestyles. Vigorously advocate simple, moderate, green, and low-carbon lifestyles, promoting energy-saving and water-saving household goods, encouraging green travel, water and electricity conservation, participation in the "Clean Plate Campaign," and reducing single-use item consumption as public habits.

(XVIII) Deepen publicity, education, and guidance. Combine with National Ecology Day and other events to regularly conduct campaigns promoting thrift and opposing waste. Continuously advance shifts in customs and traditions, embedding conservation requirements into civic covenants, village rules, and other social norms. Launch themed group classes and promotional materials on energy conservation, carbon reduction, and grain saving/love for grain aimed at young people.

IX. Strengthening Support and Safeguards

Adhere to using the strictest systems and most rigorous rule of law to address shortcomings in standards, policies, regulation, and science and technology frameworks, providing support and safeguards for implementing the comprehensive conservation strategy.

(XIX) Improve legal and standard systems. Push for revisions to laws and regulations such as the Energy Conservation Law, Circular Economy Promotion Law, and Public Institution Energy Conservation Regulations, fully implementing requirements from the Ecological Environment Code, Food Security Assurance Law, Anti-Food Waste Law, Land Management Law, Mineral Resources Law, and Water Conservation Regulations. Deeply implement energy efficiency and water efficiency labeling systems, continuously refining energy, water, and material consumption standards for key industries, fields, and products. Strengthen equipment provision and management of energy and carbon emission measuring instruments, conducting energy and carbon measurement reviews.

(XX) Increase policy support. Leverage the amplifying effect of government investment to support construction of eligible energy-saving, water-saving, and resource recycling projects. Refine differentiated electricity pricing policies for high-energy-consuming industries, optimize tiered water pricing for residents and progressive surcharges for non-residential water over quotas. Encourage financial institutions to strengthen support for resource conservation-related projects through green credit, green bonds, and other financial instruments. Guide and regulate private capital participation in investment, construction, and operation of relevant projects.

(XXI) Strengthen supervision, management, and law enforcement. Fully leverage the role of existing assessment and command mechanisms reflecting conservation requirements to hold all parties accountable. Conduct regulatory enforcement according to responsibilities, intensify law enforcement efforts, and severely investigate and punish disorderly development, resource waste, and other violations according to law and regulations. Improve statistical survey systems, exploring the establishment of resource conservation and intensive utilization indicator systems.

(XXII) Enhance technological innovation support. Include resource conservation technologies within the scope of key special projects supported by the National Key R&D Program, concentrating on tackling a batch of common critical technologies. Support collaborations between enterprises and universities/research institutes to accelerate technology transfer and application. Update, release, and promote advanced applicable technologies.

Article reprinted from the National Energy Conservation and Carbon Reduction Publicity Platform