China Issues New Plan to Boost High-Quality Development of Energy-Saving Equipment (2026-2028)
BEIJING, April 10, 2026 – Four central departments – 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 – have jointly issued the Implementation Plan for the High-Quality Development of Energy-Saving Equipment (2026-2028) (hereinafter referred to as the "Plan"), according to China Industry and Information News Network. The Plan sets clear goals for 2028, aiming to make breakthroughs in key materials and components of energy-saving equipment, upgrade the energy efficiency of equipment such as motors and transformers to an internationally leading level, and further expand the market share of energy-saving equipment.
Promoting the supply and application of energy-saving equipment is of great significance for improving industrial energy efficiency, fostering new green growth drivers and forging new advantages in industrial competition. Experts believe that the release of the Plan will effectively drive the high-quality development of energy-saving equipment, providing key equipment support for accelerating new industrialization and achieving the goals of carbon peaking and carbon neutrality.
"On the whole, the energy efficiency of China’s various types of energy-saving equipment has been continuously improved, and the industries of energy-saving motors, transformers and heat pumps have developed rapidly, with their industrial scale, technological level and market competitiveness all ranking among the world’s leading," said Wang Peng, Director of the Department of Energy Conservation and Comprehensive Utilization of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.
Luo Junjie, Vice President of China Machinery Industry Federation, took motors as an example to illustrate China’s technological advantages. "China’s motor energy efficiency standards have been aligned with international levels, and the level 1 energy efficiency index of permanent magnet motors has exceeded IE5, the highest energy efficiency level of the International Electrotechnical Commission," he said. Breakthroughs have been made in key materials and components such as ultra-high efficiency electrical steel and cost-effective rare earth permanent magnets, and advanced technologies such as magnetic levitation and variable frequency speed regulation have been widely popularized.
Transformers, as core equipment of the power system, have also achieved remarkable progress in energy conservation. China’s total on-grid capacity of transformers is about 16 billion kVA, with an annual power loss of about 250 billion kWh, accounting for 40% of the country’s total power transmission and distribution losses. After the fourth update of the mandatory national standard for transformer energy efficiency in 2024, its level 1 energy efficiency index has reached the international leading level. In 2025, China’s total transformer output was about 3 billion kVA, and the proportion of energy-saving transformers in operation increased by 10 percentage points compared with 2020, with State Grid and China Southern Power Grid taking the lead in requiring 100% of new transformers to meet energy-saving standards.
Central enterprises, as the "bellwethers" of industrial development, have played a demonstration role in promoting the upgrading of energy-saving equipment. In 2025, four central petroleum and petrochemical enterprises invested 170 billion yuan in equipment renewal and transformation, phasing out a large number of old chemical equipment; China Huaneng, China Datang and State Power Investment completed the renewal of more than 20,000 high-energy-consuming electromechanical equipment throughout the year, accounting for more than 90% of the inventory transformation tasks.
The update of energy-saving equipment is ushering in a market window of opportunity. Li Tai, Deputy Director of the Department of Resource Conservation and Environmental Protection of the National Development and Reform Commission, introduced that from 2024 to 2025, the state arranged ultra-long-term special national debt funds to support more than 13,000 equipment renewal projects, driving a total investment of more than 1.8 trillion yuan. It is estimated that the implementation of the "two new" policies has accumulated annual energy savings of more than 69 million tons of standard coal and reduced carbon emissions by more than 170 million tons.
To address the pain points such as inadequate matching between equipment and load and low operational efficiency, the Plan emphasizes three key focuses: technological innovation, systematic coordination and digital empowerment. It promotes the transformation from "local single energy conservation" to "whole-process systematic energy conservation", and develops scenario-adaptable integrated system solutions to break the mode of "one equipment for all scenarios". For example, in the peak regulation scenario of coal-fired power plants, upgrading to wide-area high-efficiency permanent magnet motors can effectively reduce the energy consumption of auxiliary machinery by about 20%.
Zhang Xiaosong, Deputy Director of the Department of Social Responsibility of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, said that the SASAC will further improve the assessment system for central enterprises, incorporating indicators such as energy consumption intensity and the proportion of energy-saving and high-efficiency equipment into the assessment system to consolidate the main responsibility. China Machinery Industry Federation will also strengthen policy publicity and technical exchanges to guide the market to form a procurement orientation of "high quality for high price" and create a sound competitive ecology for the high-quality development of energy-saving equipment.
