China published 72 five-year plans covering the 2026-2030 period, with 54 including policies or targets related to climate change and energy, according to Carbon Brief’s analysis. The highest-level plan, covering economic and social development, was released in March 2026 and serves as the foundation for sectoral and thematic plans that follow over subsequent months or years.
The five-year plan framework is central to China’s policymaking process and signals government priorities for the coming years. Beyond the overarching plan, ministries and agencies including the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, National Development and Reform Commission, and National Energy Administration have published specialized plans focused on renewable energy, fossil fuel industries, climate response, and various economic sectors. These thematic documents provide specific quantitative targets and detailed policy directions that complement the higher-level framework.
The current five-year period holds particular significance for climate action, as it encompasses the years leading to China’s commitment to peak carbon dioxide emissions before 2030. Primary goals from these plans include numerical targets such as reducing carbon intensity by 17% across the five-year period, as well as non-numerical objectives related to capabilities in weather monitoring and forecasting. Among the 72 tracked plans, topics range from coal industry development and electric vehicles to accounting methods and tourism.
Carbon Brief created an interactive tracker cataloging all identified plans, detailing primary targets and notable policies alongside links to full texts or summaries. The tracker includes search functionality and categorization by topic to enable identification of plans addressing specific issues such as clean-energy technologies or climate diplomacy. While the primary climate and energy-related plans have likely been released, the total number of five-year plans ultimately published for this period remains uncertain.
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