Nation accelerates move toward low-carbon growth

China will intensify efforts to advance green consumption and accelerate the transition toward low-carbon growth, while expanding the use of high-efficiency products, strengthening recycling systems and fostering new consumption drivers across key sectors, government officials said on Tuesday.

They made the remarks after China released a nationwide action plan on Monday aimed at advancing green consumption by expediting the green transition of consumption and supporting high-quality growth.

The plan, jointly issued by the Ministry of Commerce and eight other government departments, outlines 20 policy measures across seven key areas to strengthen incentives for green consumption, covering sectors such as agricultural products, home appliances and accommodation services. It also details financial and other supporting policies to improve the environment for green consumption.

Speaking at a news conference in Beijing, Vice-Minister of Commerce Sheng Qiuping said the initiative will help expand the adoption of green consumption practices and accelerate the shift toward low-carbon production and lifestyles.

"It places priority on improving the quality supply of essential goods and services, calling for greater availability of green agricultural products and broader use of energy-efficient home appliances," said Sheng.

From 2024 to 2025, consumers in China replaced 18.3 million vehicles under the country's auto trade-in program, with new-energy vehicles accounting for nearly 60 percent of the total, statistics from the Ministry of Commerce show.

Over the same period, a total of 192 million household appliances were upgraded through trade-ins. Altogether, the policy drove 3.92 trillion yuan ($561.34 billion) in consumer goods sales.

Li Jialu, director of the department of circulation industry development at the Ministry of Commerce, said that in the next stage, the government will boost the development of greener, smarter and more specialized sorting centers and encourage local governments to provide policy support for their development and upgrading.

He added that more recyclable resources will be guided to flow into these facilities, helping drive the high-quality development of the recycling industry.

Under the action plan, the government will also facilitate the deeper integration of artificial intelligence with green consumption, fostering the development of smart products and new application scenarios.

Eager to capture a bigger share of the green consumption market, Asia Vital Components (Dongguan) Co Ltd, a manufacturer of computer cases, servers and cooling fans in Dongguan, Guangdong province, will add new production lines to upgrade operations and expand into emerging areas such as advanced liquid-cooling solutions for cloud-based AI data centers this year, according to information from Huangpu Customs in Guangdong.

Xiao Jinfeng, the company's sales manager, said liquid-cooling systems can significantly improve heat-dissipation efficiency, reduce overall power consumption in data centers and enable high-density AI computing with a smaller environmental footprint.

"Green consumption will reshape demand and create new opportunities," said Xiao. "By upgrading toward energy-efficient, low-carbon products, we can strengthen our competitiveness both at home and abroad."

zhongnan@chinadaily.com.cn