Promoting the green development of manufacturing industry is not only related to ecological environment protection, but also to the iterative upgrading of industrial structure and the global layout of industrial chain
Only by optimizing the supply structure of green products can we support the growth of green consumption demand. Only by cultivating and forming a huge green consumption market can we stimulate enterprises to actively research and develop advanced green low-carbon technologies, produce green low-carbon products, and transform them into endogenous driving forces for strengthening, supplementing, and extending related industries
Guided by meeting market demand, we will integrate the deployment of green and low-carbon technology research and development, transformation and application, and subject cultivation, guide the aggregation of various innovative factors, and achieve the transformation of innovation efficiency into new competitive advantages in the industry
Workers work on a photovoltaic module production line at Inner Mongolia Yili Yidao New Energy Co., Ltd. located in Ordos City (Photo by Li Zhipeng on March 21, 2024)
Green development is the foundation of high-quality development, and one of the important characteristics of the new industrialization is that the foundation must be "green". At present, energy consumption in China's industrial sector accounts for about 2/3 of the total, and carbon emissions account for about 70%, making it the top priority to achieve carbon peak and carbon neutrality goals. Promoting the green development of manufacturing industry is an inherent requirement for advancing new industrialization and developing new quality productivity.
In order to thoroughly implement the spirit of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, promote the green development of the manufacturing industry, forge new industrial competitive advantages in achieving carbon peak and carbon neutrality goals, accelerate the construction of a modern industrial system, and promote new industrialization, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, together with seven departments including the National Development and Reform Commission, has issued the "Guiding Opinions on Accelerating the Green Development of the Manufacturing Industry" (hereinafter referred to as the "Guiding Opinions"), which clarifies three major paths and four systems. It is proposed that by 2030, the output value of green factories will account for over 40% of the total manufacturing output value, and green development will become a solid foundation for promoting new industrialization. By 2035, the endogenous driving force for green development in the manufacturing industry will significantly increase, carbon emissions will steadily decrease after reaching their peak, and carbon neutrality capabilities will steadily improve. The advantages of green and low-carbon competition in the global industrial and supply chains will be highlighted, and green development will become a common form of new industrialization.
Green development of manufacturing industry has achieved positive results
In recent years, China's new industrialization has accelerated, and the green development of manufacturing has also achieved positive results. In 2023, the added value of China's high-tech manufacturing and equipment manufacturing industries will account for 15.7% and 33.6% of the added value of industries above designated size, respectively. The production and sales of new energy vehicles will reach 9.587 million and 9.495 million respectively, leading the world for many consecutive years. The output of power batteries will account for about 60% of the world's total, and the output of the main links in the photovoltaic industry chain will remain the world's first for many consecutive years. The output value of green factories will account for more than 17% of the output value of industries above designated size. The industrial structure is continuously optimized towards green and low-carbon direction, the green manufacturing and service system is constantly improving, the utilization of energy resources is more efficient, and new driving forces for green development are constantly emerging.
The key to the green development of manufacturing industry lies in accelerating the green transformation of development mode, which will be a continuous and long-lasting process, and the difficulties and challenges faced are self-evident. On the one hand, the scale of China's manufacturing industry determines that it consumes more resources and generates more emissions, with prominent constraints on resource and environmental bottlenecks; On the other hand, the green transformation processes vary among different industries, and the green transformation issues faced by the eastern, central, and western regions are also different. The key technologies for green and low-carbon development have not yet been fully mastered. In response to the above issues, the Guiding Opinions take "green" as the starting point and "development" as the foothold, highlighting the use of industrial development thinking to solve the shortcomings, weaknesses, risks, and challenges in the green and low-carbon field, and promoting the industry to achieve a hierarchical leap in green transformation.
Three major paths forging new advantages in green competition of the industry
Promoting the green development of manufacturing industry is not only related to ecological environment protection, but also a strategic issue related to the iteration and upgrading of industrial structure and the global layout of industrial chain. The Guiding Opinions deeply grasp the important role of green development in the construction of a modern industrial system and the promotion of new industrialization in the manufacturing industry. With forging new advantages in green competition in the industry as the main line, it clarifies the three major paths and specific tasks for promoting green development in the manufacturing industry.
Path 1: Accelerate the green and low-carbon transformation and upgrading of traditional industries. China's traditional industries have a large volume and wide coverage, accounting for over 80% of the country's industrial scale. They are the foundation of the modern industrial system and a major consumer of resources and energy. Among them, industries such as steel, petrochemicals, non-ferrous metals, and building materials are key to industrial carbon reduction. Green and low-carbon transformation can be achieved through adjustments in raw material or product structure, substitution of green hydrogen or green electricity, process reengineering, upgrading of energy-saving and carbon reduction technologies, and optimization of regional layout.
The Guiding Opinions clarify three tasks from the perspectives of structural optimization, transformation and upgrading, and industrial layout. In promoting the green and low-carbon optimization and reconstruction of traditional industries, it is proposed to accelerate the optimization and adjustment of product structure, energy consumption structure, raw material structure, and process reengineering of traditional industries, and enhance their position and competitiveness in the global division of labor; In terms of accelerating the green and low-carbon technology transformation of traditional industries, it is proposed to regularly update and release the green and low-carbon technology guidance catalog for the manufacturing industry, select and promote key common technologies with high maturity, good economic efficiency, and significant green effects, and promote the comprehensive implementation of a new round of green and low-carbon technology transformation and upgrading in enterprises, parks, and key industries; In guiding the optimization of regional green and low-carbon layout, it is proposed to adhere to the national strategy, comprehensively consider factors such as regional industrial foundation, resource endowment, and environmental carrying capacity, and promote the formation of a new pattern of green and low-carbon transformation of traditional industries through clustering and differentiation.
Path 2: Promote the green, low-carbon, and high starting point development of emerging industries. Emerging industries are the new pillars and tracks that lead future development. After years of development, China's green and low-carbon industries such as new energy vehicles, photovoltaic products, and lithium batteries have gained global competitive advantages and become new green growth points. At the same time, there are still weak links in the green development of these industries themselves. For example, with the acceleration of industrial upgrading and equipment replacement, new energy equipment such as photovoltaic modules will face the problem of mass retirement, and the recycling of new energy equipment is of great significance. The Guiding Opinions propose to accelerate the filling of green and low-carbon weak links in emerging industries, and focus on forging the advantages of green and low-carbon industries. We should not only focus on the bottleneck links that restrict the green development of emerging industries, accelerate the filling of weak links, and solve the concerns of sustainable development of emerging industries, but also take advantage of the huge market space brought by the green and low-carbon transformation of the economy and society, vigorously develop green and low-carbon industries, and increase the proportion of green and low-carbon industries such as green environmental protection, new energy equipment, and new energy vehicles.
The future industry is the key to seizing the high ground of future competition and building new competitive advantages. Currently, the application scenarios of hydrogen energy and new energy storage in the industrial field in China are constantly expanding. The first 10000 ton green hydrogen industrialization demonstration project has been completed and put into operation, and the first million ton hydrogen based vertical furnace in the steel industry has been ignited and put into operation. The cumulative installed capacity of new energy storage exceeds 31GW. Under the "dual carbon" goal, there is huge development space in future energy and manufacturing fields such as energy storage, hydrogen energy, carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS), and biomanufacturing. The Guiding Opinions propose to focus on the energy revolution and industrial transformation needs under the "dual carbon" goal, plan and layout the development of future energy and manufacturing industries such as hydrogen energy, energy storage, biomanufacturing, carbon capture, utilization and storage, and quickly transform the potential of future demand into industrial development momentum, and seize the competitive high ground of future industrial development.
Path 3: Cultivate new forms of green integration in the manufacturing industry. Cross border integration has become the main driving force for industrial development. In the process of green development in the manufacturing industry, a number of new business models with integrated development have emerged. For example, in terms of the integration of digitalization and greening, enterprises can improve the resource efficiency and environmental benefits of their production processes by applying digital technology, and the government can establish a digital carbon management platform to understand their carbon emissions; In terms of integrating green manufacturing and services, enterprises will transform their experience in green design, green supply chain management, and green manufacturing into systematic solutions, providing green transformation services for peers or upstream and downstream enterprises; In terms of the integration of green consumption demand and green product supply, industry not only needs to improve its own green and low-carbon level, but also provide green and low-carbon product equipment for production and life in various fields of society such as energy production, transportation, and urban and rural construction. Only by optimizing the supply structure of green products can we support the growth of green consumption demand. Only by cultivating a huge green consumption market can we stimulate enterprises to actively research and develop advanced green and low-carbon technologies, produce green and low-carbon products, and transform them into endogenous driving forces for strengthening, supplementing, and extending related industries. In response to the above key directions, the Guiding Opinions propose to leverage the empowering role of digital technology in improving resource efficiency, environmental benefits, management efficiency, and accelerate the digital and green collaborative transformation of production methods; Following the trend of deep integration between modern service industry and manufacturing industry, we will deeply promote service-oriented manufacturing in the field of green and low-carbon, and build a high-quality and efficient green manufacturing service system; Closely focusing on the green consumption needs of various sectors of society such as energy production, transportation, and urban-rural development, we will increase the supply of green products, cultivate new models of deep integration of supply and demand, achieve coordinated efforts between supply and demand, and support the green and low-carbon transformation of the economy and society.
Four major systems to strengthen the manufacturing industry
Basic capabilities for green development
Promoting the green development of manufacturing industry is a long-term systematic project that requires the support and guidance of factors such as technology, standards, policies, and benchmarks. The Guiding Opinions propose to enhance the basic capabilities of green development in the manufacturing industry from four aspects.
Build a green and low-carbon technology innovation system. Green low-carbon technology is the core element that constitutes green productivity, involving various industries and links. By strengthening technological breakthroughs, leading standards, and promoting demonstrations, China has recommended a total of 2106 energy-saving technology equipment products, 681 advanced environmental protection management technology equipment, 534 water-saving process technology equipment, and 401 advanced applicable process technology and equipment for comprehensive utilization of industrial resources to the whole society by the end of 2023. In order to accelerate the application and promotion of industrial green and low-carbon technologies, the Guiding Opinions propose to be guided by meeting market demand, integrating the deployment of green and low-carbon technology research and development, transformation and application, and subject cultivation, guiding the aggregation of various innovative factors, and realizing the transformation of innovation efficiency into new advantages in industrial competition.
Improve the policy system for green development. Compared to traditional development models, green development means more investment in research and development of green low-carbon technologies, procurement and management of green equipment. Policies that are suitable for green development must be formulated in finance, taxation, pricing mechanisms, and other aspects to avoid resource misallocation and the phenomenon of bad money driving out good money caused by green premiums. The Guiding Opinions propose to take precision, collaboration, and sustainability as the guiding principles, improve policies supporting green development in finance, taxation, investment, pricing, and other areas, and give full play to the role of different types of policies, such as using fiscal policies to address funding needs for major green and low-carbon technology research and development, using financial policies to address a wide range of technological transformation and upgrading needs, while innovating policy implementation methods and gradually establishing a long-term mechanism to promote the green development of the manufacturing industry.
Establish a sound green and low-carbon standard system. The construction of a green and low-carbon standard system is an important foundation for promoting the green development of the manufacturing industry. The Guiding Opinions propose to strengthen the top-level design and normative management of standards, promote the connection and matching of various levels and types of standards, strengthen the implementation and application evaluation of standards, complete the revision of more than 500 urgently needed standards for carbon peak by 2030, continuously improve standards for energy conservation, water conservation, comprehensive utilization of resources, and environmental protection equipment, steadily upgrade standards for green factories, green products, green industrial parks, and green supply chains, collaborate to promote digital empowerment of green and low-carbon standards, and promote the internationalization of standards.
Optimize the green and low-carbon benchmark cultivation system. The green and low-carbon benchmark is the leading force in promoting the green development of the manufacturing industry. Since the 13th Five Year Plan, China has focused on promoting the construction of a green manufacturing system, cultivating a total of 5095 "comprehensive benchmarks" represented by green factories. It has accelerated the cultivation of "single benchmarks" in sub sectors such as energy conservation, water conservation, and comprehensive resource utilization. For example, it has continuously selected "leading" enterprises in energy and water efficiency, cultivated 1165 standardized enterprises in renewable resources, led and promoted the benchmarking improvement of the entire industry, and laid a solid foundation for comprehensively promoting the green development of the manufacturing industry. The Guiding Opinions propose to give full play to the leading and driving role of green and low-carbon benchmarks, optimize the existing benchmark cultivation mechanism, and build a benchmark cultivation system that connects the "comprehensive benchmark" of green manufacturing with the "single benchmark" of energy efficiency, water efficiency, renewable resources and other sub sectors. This will deeply explore the potential for energy and resource conservation throughout the entire industrial process, and promote the green development of the manufacturing industry from point to surface, gradually covering all aspects.

Translated from:https://www.miit.gov.cn/xbymdz/xwfb/sjfzrfb/art/2024/art_661325417ad24820b5bdf73710277dfe.html