Four ministries including the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology have issued documents

It is reported that four departments, including the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the National Development and Reform Commission, the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council, and the National Energy Administration, recently jointly issued the Implementation Plan for High-Quality Development of Energy-Saving Equipment (2026–2028) (MIIT Joint Energy 〔2026〕 No. 44, hereinafter referred to as the "Implementation Plan"). The plan aims to continuously improve the energy efficiency of energy-saving equipment with strong universality, high energy consumption and outstanding development prospects, and strengthen the supply and application of such equipment.

Implementation Plan for High-Quality Development of Energy-Saving Equipment (2026–2028) Energy-saving equipment refers to products and equipment that adopt advanced technical design and manufacturing in all links of energy production and utilization, which can improve energy efficiency and reduce energy consumption and loss. Accelerating the high-quality development of energy-saving equipment is an important measure to promote the improvement of industrial energy efficiency and achieve the goals of carbon peaking and carbon neutrality, an important direction for fostering new drivers of green development and forging new advantages in industrial competition, and an important foundation for supporting the growth demand of energy consumption across society and ensuring national energy security. This plan is formulated to implement the Notice of the General Office of the State Council on Issuing the Action Plan for Green and Low-Carbon Development of Manufacturing Industry (2025–2027), continuously improve the energy efficiency of energy-saving equipment with strong universality, high energy consumption and outstanding development prospects, and strengthen the supply and application of energy-saving equipment.

I. General Requirements

Guided by Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, we will thoroughly implement the guiding principles of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China and all plenary sessions of the 20th Central Committee, fully apply Xi Jinping's Thought on Ecological Civilization, and fully, accurately and comprehensively implement the new development philosophy. We will consistently adhere to the principle of conservation first, aim to promote energy conservation and carbon reduction in key industries and sectors, focus on optimizing and upgrading energy-consuming systems, take the R&D and application of advanced technological equipment as the main driver, and follow the paths of green design and manufacturing, equipment upgrading and retrofitting, and empowerment by artificial intelligence. We will promote the deep integration of scientific and technological innovation and industrial innovation, build green and low-carbon supply chains, and accelerate the intelligent, green and integrated development of energy-saving equipment. This will provide key equipment support for carrying out energy conservation and carbon reduction work at a higher level and with higher quality, accelerating the advancement of new-type industrialization, and achieving the goals of carbon peaking and carbon neutrality.

By 2028, breakthroughs will be made in key materials and components for energy-saving equipment. The matching of energy-consuming systems and their actual operating efficiency in key industries and sectors will continue to improve. The energy efficiency of energy-saving equipment such as motors and transformers will reach international leading levels. The market share of energy-saving equipment will be further increased. A number of advanced and applicable system solutions for the upgrading and retrofitting of energy-saving equipment will be promoted, a number of application scenarios of energy-saving equipment empowered by artificial intelligence will be created, and a number of leading enterprises and industrial clusters of energy-saving equipment with international competitiveness will be fostered.

II. Accelerating the R&D and Promotion of Advanced Energy-Saving Equipment

(1) Motors and Load Equipment such as Fans, Pumps and Compressors. Promote the R&D and upgrading of basic materials and core components required for ultra-Level 1 high-efficiency motors and wide-range high-efficiency motors, and accelerate the popularization and application of high-efficiency energy-saving asynchronous motors, wide-range permanent magnet motors, direct-drive motors, magnetic levitation motors, high-precision industrial servo motors, etc. Develop energy-saving motors with strong applicability and high matching for specific working conditions such as ultra-low speed, ultra-high speed, frequent variable load, high response speed, low-speed high torque, and high-inertia load starting. Continuously strengthen the impeller aerodynamic design and flow channel optimization of energy-saving fans, pumps, compressors and other load equipment, improve the aerodynamic efficiency of load equipment and reduce internal flow loss. Promote magnetic levitation and air suspension compressors and fans, as well as oil-free permanent magnet direct-drive pumps, magnetic levitation vacuum pumps, etc. By 2028, the proportion of newly added energy-saving motors, fans, pumps and compressors will all reach 35%, and the proportion of in-service energy-saving motors, fans, pumps and compressors will all exceed 15%.

(2) Transformers. Promote the R&D and upgrading of key materials and core components required for ultra-Level 1 energy-saving transformers, such as silicon steel sheets, amorphous alloy strips, high-conductivity materials and high-performance insulating materials, and accelerate the popularization and application of high-efficiency silicon steel three-dimensional wound core transformers, large-capacity high-efficiency amorphous alloy three-dimensional wound core transformers, environmentally friendly insulating oil transformers, large-capacity solid-state transformers, flexible DC transformers, etc. Improve the energy efficiency and system adaptability of transformers in new energy fields such as wind power, photovoltaic, hydrogen energy and new energy storage. Encourage power grid enterprises and new energy enterprises to carry out energy-saving and carbon reduction diagnosis of in-service transformers. By 2028, the proportion of newly added energy-saving transformers will exceed 75%, and the proportion of in-service energy-saving transformers will reach 15%.

(3) Industrial Heat Pumps. Improve the supply capacity of high-power, high-efficiency and high-temperature heat pumps in the industrial sector, and enhance the performance and energy efficiency of heat pump products through process innovation, component integration, intelligent production and other means. Accelerate the R&D of transcritical carbon dioxide (CO₂) heat pumps, high-power high-temperature heat pumps, industrial steam heat pumps, and heat pumps with simultaneous cooling and heating, and promote key technological breakthroughs such as new refrigerants with low global warming potential (GWP), high-temperature compressors based on natural working fluids, high-efficiency water vapor compressors with high temperature rise, low-cost high-efficiency expansion devices, and new high-efficiency heat exchangers. Encourage qualified industrial enterprises and industrial parks to apply industrial heat pumps to recover waste heat resources such as industrial wastewater and waste gas to produce high-temperature hot air, hot water or steam according to heat demand, feasibility of waste heat recovery and process substitutability. By 2028, the energy efficiency of heat pump products will increase by more than 10% compared with 2025.

(4) Industrial Refrigeration (Heating) and Heating Equipment. Improve the supply capacity of wide-range high-efficiency industrial refrigeration (heating) equipment, and accelerate the popularization and application of oil-free chillers, high-power high-efficiency variable-frequency refrigeration units, DC variable-speed multi-connected units, condensing heat recovery units, etc. Accelerate the popularization and application of heating equipment such as high-power electric thermal energy storage equipment, vacuum heat treatment equipment, laser heat treatment equipment, superconducting induction heating devices, insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) induction furnaces, DC arc furnaces, DC plasma heating devices, heat pump drying and vacuum drying. By 2028, the proportion of newly added energy-saving industrial refrigeration (heating) and heating equipment will reach 45%, and the proportion of in-service energy-saving industrial refrigeration (heating) and heating equipment will reach 25%.

(5) Water Electrolysis Hydrogen Production Equipment. Encourage enterprises to develop high-efficiency, low-cost and high-performance water electrolysis hydrogen production equipment. Promote the upgrading of basic materials such as electrodes and diaphragms, develop new electrode matrix materials and structures, improve electrochemical active area and mass transfer efficiency, break through long-life corrosion-resistant electrode preparation processes, and continuously tackle low-cost, high-conductivity and high-stability membrane materials. Optimize the design of internal flow field, thermal field, electric field and pressure field of electrolyzers, improve equipment uniformity, and develop advanced durable sealing structures and materials. Continuously improve the electrolysis efficiency of alkaline and proton exchange membrane electrolyzers, and develop and apply anion exchange membrane electrolyzers with high response, wide load and non-noble metal catalysis. By 2028, the DC power consumption of mass-produced water electrolysis hydrogen production equipment under rated working conditions will be lower than 4.2 kWh/Nm³.

(6) Information and Communication Equipment. Promote the development of chip architectures toward heterogeneous multi-core collaboration, and improve the energy efficiency of multi-task parallel processing. Encourage the R&D and deployment of high-density servers, liquid cooling servers and liquid cooling switches to improve the utilization efficiency of power supply and heat dissipation systems. Accelerate the popularization and application of technical products such as high-efficiency power amplifiers, high-voltage DC power supply, high-efficiency uninterruptible power supply (UPS) systems and high-efficiency safety batteries, as well as cooling equipment such as high-efficiency variable-frequency air conditioners, natural cooling source air conditioners, dry-wet composite air conditioners and multi-gradient cooling air conditioners. Encourage enterprises to select products in the construction and planning stage based on energy efficiency test verification, and give priority to high-performance and low-power consumption equipment. By 2028, the proportion of newly added servers reaching energy efficiency Level 2 and above in the information and communication field will exceed 80%.

Box 1 Key Technology Research and Promotion of Energy-Saving Equipment

1.Motors and load equipment such as fans, pumps and compressors. Conduct research on key materials including low-cost permanent magnet materials such as cerium magnets and samarium-cobalt magnets, high magnetic induction low-loss cold-rolled silicon steel sheets, oil-free screw compressor rotor coating materials, high-efficiency long-life lubricating oil, and high-efficiency adsorbents with low desorption temperature. Develop core components such as high-efficiency synchronous reluctance motor frequency converters, integrated permanent magnet synchronous controllers, high-efficiency wide-load ternary impellers, high-power high-efficiency couplings, high-power high-load magnetic/air suspension bearings, and high-performance temperature and pressure resistant seals. Promote technologies including permanent magnet variable frequency speed regulation, permanent magnet synchronous direct drive, high-efficiency stepless flow regulation for compressors, air compressor heat recovery, and low-energy consumption drying and purification.

2.Transformers. Conduct research on key materials such as high magnetic induction ultra-low loss low-noise oriented silicon steel sheets, wide-width low-loss low-noise amorphous alloy strips, high permeability nanocrystalline alloys, and high-end insulating materials, as well as core components including high-performance winding wires, on-load tap changers, large-capacity three-dimensional wound cores, and high-end bushings. Promote high-performance materials such as high-performance winding wires, high-performance insulating materials and products, and ultra-thin heat-resistant notched silicon steel sheets.

3.Industrial heat pumps. Conduct research on key materials such as natural working fluids, hydrofluoroolefins (HFOs), new low-GWP refrigerants, and high-temperature resistant lubricating oils, as well as core components including multi-stage compression cycle configurations, high-pressure ratio compressors, natural working fluid high-temperature compressors, water vapor compressors, seals, and high-end bearings. Promote high-efficiency compact heat exchangers, low-cost high-efficiency expansion devices, high-temperature multi-stage absorption heat pumps, and waste heat cascade utilization and integration technologies.

4.Industrial refrigeration (heating) and heating equipment. For industrial refrigeration (heating) equipment, conduct research on cutting-edge key technologies such as radiative cooling materials, two-stage vapor injection technology, and three-volute two-stage compression technology. Promote technologies including permanent magnet variable frequency adaptive pressure ratio two-stage compression, compact lightweight high-efficiency heat transfer, and cascade multi-stage compression combined cooling and heating supply. For industrial heating equipment, conduct research on basic materials such as heat storage and cold storage materials, low heat loss insulation materials, and new cooling medium materials. Promote high-efficiency heat exchange equipment such as transverse magnetic field heating technology, dual-furnace waste heat preheating process, semi-continuous vacuum induction melting furnaces, electric sintering kilns, ultra-high power and DC arc furnaces, silicon carbide ceramic heat exchangers, as well as heating technologies such as high-power plasma, electron beam and laser.

5.Water electrolysis hydrogen production equipment. Conduct research on new electrode structures such as ordered, integrated and three-dimensional porous electrodes, low-iridium, low-platinum loading or non-noble metal high-activity catalysts, membrane materials such as polyphenylene sulfide and perfluorosulfonic acid resin, advanced high-temperature resistant glass-ceramic sealing materials and connector materials, as well as electrolyzer multi-physics field collaborative optimization technologies. Promote the application of core components such as low-iridium loading catalysts, new composite diaphragms, and porous structured membrane electrodes, as well as new technologies and products such as anion exchange membrane (AEM) electrolyzers, differential pressure electrolyzers, and atmospheric pressure square electrolyzers.

6.Information and communication equipment. Promote the R&D and application of high-performance thermal conductive materials such as liquid metals and phase change liquid cooling technologies, and optimize the performance of core liquid cooling components and heat dissipation enhancement measures for cold plate and immersion liquid cooling. Conduct research on high-efficiency power amplifier technology, iterate and upgrade digital predistortion algorithms, promote the evolution and innovation of base station power amplifier architectures, and realize flexible adjustment and application of power amplifiers under different loads. Promote modular design of communication equipment, reduce basic power consumption under no-service/low-service conditions, advance the development of software-defined equipment, and realize dynamic adjustment of equipment modes and frequency bands.