Staff of Hangzhou Ecological Environment Bureau visit an enterprise to provide suggestions on reducing emissions and building a "waste free factory" on December 9, 2022. (PHOTO: XINHUA)

By Staff Reporters

China has unveiled a guideline to speed up the upgrading and recycling of equipment in key areas, calling for faster transformation into an energy-saving development mode, and in the process helping save energy and reduce carbon emissions.

Released by the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and eight other departments, the guideline proposes that the amount of renewable and recycled resources such as scrap steel and waste plastics, should reach 450 million tons by 2025, and the energy efficiency of products and equipment in key sectors should reach an internationally advanced level by 2030.

At present, more than five billion boilers, motors, power transformers, refrigerators, lighting facilities, household appliances and other equipment are used in such areas as energy, industry, construction and transportation, as well as in people's daily lives.

The annual energy consumption of equipment and appliances in the above-mentioned key areas accounts for about 80 percent of the country's total energy consumption. So, the coordinated promotion of upgrading, recycling and utilization of equipment and machinery is important to help realize the carbon peaking and neutrality goal, said an official from the NDRC.

The guideline called for expanding market supply and application of energy-efficient products and equipment.

Enterprises are encouraged to increase investment in research and design of green products, upgrade technical processes, and enhance their manufacturing capacity for energy-efficient products and equipment.

The technical difficulties in upgrading and recycling products and equipment should be thoroughly investigated and sorted out, said the guideline.

It stressed that research institutions, industry associations, and key enterprises should focus on developing a group of advanced technologies for energy conservation and carbon reduction, with independent intellectual property rights and core competitiveness.