The Petroleum Business Daily conducted an exclusive interview with Yang Li and Liu Xueye, experts from the Institute for Green Innovation and Development (iGDP), to provide an in-depth analysis of the strategic restructuring and breakthrough strategies for the oil and gas industry during the 15th Five-Year Plan period.

This report examines the low-carbon transition pathways for thermal/heating systems in China's steel industry, reviewing the policy drivers behind decarbonization and analyzing the technological trajectory across near-, medium-, and long-term horizons (2025–2060). It surveys and compares the applicability, economics, and emissions-reduction potential of key technologies—including waste heat recovery, system efficiency improvements, and hydrogen-based metallurgy—through in-depth case studies (HBIS Group's hydrogen metallurgy, Shougang Jingtang's process interface optimization, and Sinosteel/CISP's hydrogen-based smelting reduction, among others). It further identifies the practical barriers to scaling these technologies (high green hydrogen costs, renewable energy intermittency, stranded-asset risk, and weak cross-sector coordination mechanisms), and proposes policy recommendations to accelerate the sector's shift toward integration with renewable energy systems.

In March 2026, China’s 15th Five Year Plan set a target to build “around 100 national level zero-carbon industrial parks” – zones for industrial production with net-zero or close to zero carbon emissions. It marked an upgrade to what had previously been a series of pilot projects around the country and catapulted such zones to a national priority.

With the rapid growth in installed capacity, the core challenge facing the power system is shifting from “whether we can generate more green electricity” to “whether we can effectively utilize green electricity at the right time and place.”

On July 23, the National Development and Reform Commission and the National Energy Administration released the “15th Five-Year Plan for Renewable Energy Development” (hereinafter referred to as the “Plan”), which sets out a systematic roadmap for the development of renewable energy over the next five years.

On the evening of July 9, the State Council officially issued the “Action Plan for Carbon Peaking During the 15th Five-Year Plan Period” (hereinafter referred to as the “Plan”). As the overarching framework for China’s critical phase in achieving its carbon peaking goal, the Plan sets out systematic measures across five key areas: energy structure adjustment, green industrial transformation, and carbon reduction in priority sectors.