China aims to have all its cities adopt zero-waste strategies nationwide by 2035, establishing a sustainable and comprehensive solid waste management system across the country, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment said on Tuesday.
For a short-term objective, China aims to expand its zero-waste city pilot program to cover 60 percent of the country by 2027, achieving significant reductions in solid waste generation intensity, according to Vice Minister of Ecology and Environment Li Gao at a press conference in Beijing.
"During the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-2030), [we will] further advance the construction of zero-waste cities by expanding them to about 200, and make efforts to promote the joint construction of regional zero-waste cities in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, the Yangtze River Delta, the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, the Yangtze River Midstream City Cluster, and the Chengdu-Chongqing region," he said.
In 2019, 11 cities and five areas in China were selected to pilot waste-free programs that place a dual emphasis on reducing trash at the source and increasing recycling.
Under the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025), China has designated 113 prefecture-level cities and eight special regions to advance zero-waste construction. More than 3,000 solid-waste management projects have been implemented with an investment of approximately 560 billion yuan (about 80 billion U.S. dollars).
China defines a "zero-waste city" not as one that produces no waste, but as an urban model that minimizes landfill through green production and lifestyles, source-level reduction and resource recovery, driving solid waste impacts as low as possible.
China aims for full zero-waste city coverage by 2035
China's blue-chip CSI 300 Index made modest gains in the past week thanks to the huge electrification campaign that reduces the country's exposure to the volatile oil price as the continuing conflict in the Middle East enters the second week, said an analyst on Friday.
Chinese stocks closed lower on Friday, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index down 0.81 percent to 4,095.45 points.
Timothy Pope, a market analyst for China Global Television Network, said the CSI 300 Index made modest gains despite a rough week for both Chinese and global stock markets.
"The conflict in the Middle East really shows no sign of winding down and it has been as you said another rough week for the global markets. Today the Shanghai Composite Index closed down 0.8 percent, and ended lower for the week as well, but the blue-chip CSI 300 Index actually managed to make some modest gains this week. And that fits what we've been hearing from analysts and investment banks, including Morgan Stanley and UBS. They've said that China's got less oil exposure than other economies. This is partly because of the huge electrification campaign which has been happening in China from family cars to road haulage, and also just the total energy mix here. But we know that oil isn't the only thing that's not getting out of the Middle East at the moment. Fertilizer has emerged as another big disruption point and we have seen in the last 48 hours China already begin early releases of fertilizer reserves ahead of the spring planting season. With all that in the mix we have seen the likes of Morgan Stanley and UBS touting A-shares as a diversification option and a resilient market in this risk-off investment environment," said Pope.
"Sector-wise today we saw some consumer stocks rising -- led by liquor makers, in particular, Kweichow Moutai. There were also some limited gains for Chinese real estate and financial firms. But with the oil price still extremely volatile, Chinese resources and energy shares pulled back today to become the two worst-performing sectors," said Pope.
Chinese blue-chip stocks make gains amid a rough week for global markets: analyst
