China establishes new centrally administered SOE for resource-recycling

China officially launched a centrally administered state-owned enterprise (SOE) in Tianjin on Friday, specializing in resources recycling and reuse.

The newly established enterprise, Resources Recycling Group Co., Ltd, will undertake the important task of building a national platform on recycling and reusing consumer durables such as scrapped motor vehicles, home appliances and electronic products, and major equipment products such as retired wind power and photovoltaic modules.

"China Resources Recycling Group will recycle waste steel, waste power batteries, waste plastics, and waste non-ferrous metals, which is conducive to improving the self-sufficiency of energy and minerals. Taking the utilization of plastic recycling as an example, it is estimated that about 43 million tons of waste plastics were incinerated or buried in China in 2023. If half of this amount can be recycled chemically, it is equivalent to developing an oil field with a capacity of more than 60 million tons, which is of great significance for ensuring national energy and mineral security," said Sinopec President Ma Yongsheng.

According to a guideline issued by the State Council, China will implement a comprehensive set of policies to establish an extensive waste recycling system encompassing all sectors and stages by 2025.

The resource recycling industry is projected to achieve an annual output value of five trillion yuan (about 704 billion U.S. dollars), with the recycling of municipal solid waste expected to reach four billion tons and the recycling of major renewable resources anticipated to reach 450 million tons. Additionally, the proportion of utilized household waste is expected to increase to about 60 percent.

By 2030, the recycling of municipal solid waste is predicted to reach 4.5 billion tons, while the recycling of key renewable resources is projected to reach 510 million tons, and the proportion of domestic household waste utilization is expected to rise to 65 percent.

Liu Yu, chairman of China Resources Recycling Group Co., Ltd, said that the company will be built into a comprehensive solution provider covering multiple key categories of recycled resources, integrating functions such as warehousing, processing, distribution, trade-in and standard setting.

"Implementing resource recycling is a key component and an important measure for promoting large-scale equipment renewal and the trade-in of consumer goods. These waste products and equipment contain valuable recyclable materials, including steel, nonferrous metals, precious metals, plastics, rubber, and other resources. Effective recycling of these materials is akin to opening a 'second mine', which can reduce the demand for primary resources and lessen the pressure of mineral resource exploitation on the natural environment. At the same time, it also creates a broad market space for the development of the renewable resources recycling industry," said Liu.

The registered capital of the newly founded enterprise is 10 billion yuan (1.4 billion U.S. dollars), with the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council representing the State Council in fulfilling the responsibilities of the investor.

In terms of the equity structure, the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council, China Baowu Steel Group Corporation Limited, China Petrochemical Corporation, and China Resources (Holdings) Co., Ltd. each hold 20 percent, while Aluminum Corporation of China and China Minmetals Corporation each hold 10 percent.

China establishes new centrally administered SOE for resource-recycling

Chinese Premier Li Qiang on Friday presided over a State Council executive meeting which studied further arrangements on energy conservation and carbon reduction, and heard a report on a special campaign on business-related administrative law enforcement.

The meeting also reviewed and approved a draft regulation on administrative law enforcement oversight, discussed a draft law on firefighters, and arranged work for a crackdown on tobacco-related illegal activities.

The meeting emphasized the need to ensure higher-standard and better-quality work in the fields of energy conservation and carbon reduction -- work which must be advanced with greater overall planning efforts and in light of local conditions.

To that end, the meeting called for efforts to maximize the impact of policies, continuously improve market mechanisms, and accelerate the transition to green production and green lifestyles.

A special campaign on regulating business-related administrative law enforcement this year has achieved positive results, the meeting noted, underlining further efforts to enhance the standardization of administrative law enforcement.

By drafting and implementing the regulation on administrative law enforcement oversight, the boundaries and responsibilities of law enforcement authorities will be clarified further, and administrative power will be upheld consistently within a legal framework, it said.

It discussed and approved in principle a draft law on firefighters, which will be submitted to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress for deliberation.

It is imperative that the institutional arrangements for the country's firefighting force are improved, making it more standardized and professional, the meeting said, stressing the need to consolidate fire safety management, and to resolutely prevent and curb serious or major fire accidents.

Work will also be done to crack down strictly on tobacco-related illegal activities, strengthen supervision and law enforcement across all links, and improve the tobacco market environment, according to the meeting.

Chinese premier chairs meeting on carbon reduction, administrative law enforcement