- 14th Five-Year Plan I: action plan for climate action
- 14th Five-Year Plan II: The Communist Party has a woman problem
- Zhong Shanshan: rich thanks to mineral water
- Lithuania to leave 17+1 format
- Geely CEO: EV transport by train
- Profile: Duan Wei
The Chinese plans for climate action are ambitious. The country wants to become carbon neutral by 2060, and emissions are supposed to fall by 2030 at the latest. But how is this supposed to work? Christiane Kuehl took a look at the 14th Five-Year Plan. Her finding: The choice of words is unusually clear. But there is still not much concrete information. It will be interesting to see whether the plan will be further refined during the course of the People’s Congress.
Around one in three members of the Chinese Communist Party is a woman. However, only one woman has made it into the extended leadership. Ning Wang investigates the role women are accorded in the party and state leadership – and what influence Xi’s penchant for Confucianism has had on this.
Antje Sirleschtov
Feature
Action plan for climate action
By 2030 at the latest, China wants to reduce its emissions of climate gases, and a carbon-neutral economy by 2060. With the next two five-year plans, Beijing must define in concrete terms how it intends to achieve these goals. The 14th Five-Year Plan (5YP) for the years 2021-2025, which is now to be approved at the National People’s Congress (NPC), must drive the first pegs into place. The 15th plan will then have to get down to the nitty-gritty. In parallel with climate protection, China also wants to combat environmental pollution and improve nature and species conservation.
In October, the Central Committee signed off on the draft of the 14th 5JP. This draft sets the tone but does not yet provide details. The plan will “likely include emissions caps or quotas, more barriers to investment in coal capacity, and support for investment in renewable energy,” Nis Gruenberg and Anna Holzmann expect in a recent study by the Berlin-based Mercator Institute for China Studies (Merics). They also say the draft envisions “a comprehensive green transformation of economic and social development.” The authors were struck by the fact that the draft used “much stronger formulations” than earlier plans. They also expect Beijing to place even greater emphasis on domestic innovation – with the goal of environmental technology leadership for China in the world. China.Table has prepared an overview of the most important points of the 14th Five-Year Plan for you.
Xie Zhenhua: roadmap for climate protection until 2060
In September 2020, President Xi Jinping surprisingly announced that China will be carbon neutral from 2060. In December, Beijing declared its intention to reach the emissions peak “before 2030” rather than “2030.” This was followed in January by the go-ahead for a National Emissions Trading System. Finally, in February, Xi appointed former environment minister Xie Zhenhua as the new special climate envoy.
Continue reading now
… and get free access to this Professional Briefing for a month.
Are you already a guest at the China.Table? Log in now