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China’s 15th Five-Year Plan to push energy independence
17/9/2025
10 min read
Feature
Although China’s 15th Five-Year Plan (FYP) will not be finalised until March 2026, energy experts suggest that this 2026–2030 policy umbrella will pressure Chinese ministries and state agencies to move its energy transition forward rapidly, writes Jens Kastner.
The Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee is currently organising the drafting of proposals for this plan, and relevant governments departments are soliciting opinions and suggestions from officials, the public, as well as experts and scholars.
On 30 July 2025, President Xi Jinping chaired a meeting of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee (the Politburo) which decided that the fourth plenary session of the 20th CPC Central Committee will study proposals for the plan in October. Then, the State Council, China’s cabinet, drafts an outline which is submitted to the National People’s Congress, China’s legislature, before it is approved and officially announced and implemented.
Of key anticipated importance in this plan is ensuring China meets its needs for sustainable and reliable power. In 2024, the State Council laid out the path for China’s energy transition, stressing that China’s drive towards modernisation has generated new requirements for high-quality energy development. At the time, it commented: ‘Despite being the world’s largest developing country, China has comparatively low per-capita energy consumption. As the country has not yet completed its industrialisation and urbanisation, however, its energy demand is likely to continue growing. With an industrial structure dominated by heavy industry and an energy mix primarily based on coal, China will continue to face resource and environmental constraints in the long run. Energy transition is the fundamental solution to the above challenges.’