Guangzhou, a major city in southern China, has been expanding the use of hydrogen as an energy source for transportation in several key sectors, as the local government seeks to expand green energy options to better fit the needs of industries.
The city has more than 4,000 hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles, the highest number in China.
On a construction site in Guangzhou, hydrogen is being used to power all construction vehicles, including heavy trucks that haul earth to disposal sites, replacing traditional diesel. Compared with diesel trucks, the hydrogen trucks carry larger loads, have stronger power and are more environment-friendly.
"Previously, a truck could carry about 12 cubic meters of earth per load, but now that has increased to 20 cubic meters. The larger capacity helps reduce overall costs. The trucks also produce less noise, which means they have less impact on nearby residents," said Wang Liming, project manager at Felicity Solar photovoltaic storage base of CSCES Xinjiang Construction and Engineering Group.
Hydrogen-powered trucks offer a clear advantage for logistics firms focusing on speed and cost. Besides, cold‑chain trucks, which transport temperature-controlled goods, can be refueled in just five to ten minutes, giving them a range of up to 500 kilometers.
"Charging a 400-kWh electric truck takes over an hour, but refueling with hydrogen takes about eight minutes. Using hydrogen costs around 1.35 yuan per kilometer," said Ke Maoguo, general manager of Guangzhou Zhika Logistics Technology.
Ke said that his company purchased more than 110 hydrogen trucks late last year, and their safety and stability were proven after months of operation. The fleet will continue to expand, he said.
The wider use of hydrogen as energy is driving its prices lower, according to authorities.
Some hydrogen refueling stations in Guangzhou are already selling at 25.9 yuan per kilogram, just above the target set in March by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, which aims to bring end-user prices below 25 yuan per kilogram by 2030.
"We use 30-MPa tube trailers, so the overall volume of hydrogen transported has increased significantly. At the same time, we've also introduced a new unloading technology that achieves an efficiency rate of over 95 percent. With the same transport costs, we can now deliver more hydrogen, which helps lower the overall cost," said Liu Wei, co-president of Guangdong Yuntao Hydrogen Technology.
Innovation at the user end is also spurring production upgrades and lowering costs. Last year, a hydrogen fuel cell supply center -- the largest one in southern China -- was opened with an annual capacity of 5,100 tonnes, ensuring hydrogen supply for vehicles in Guangzhou and nearby cities.
"We tallied the sales over the past three years. In 2025, sales rose about 200 percent from the 2024 level, and sales in the first quarter of 2026 recorded another 200 percent year-on-year increase. This shows that the demand from end-users is growing exponentially, which provides strong support for the hydrogen industry chain," said Cao Jingsong, deputy manager of the planning department at Guangzhou Petrochemical.
Guangzhou expands use of hydrogen in transport
As the world grapples with multiplying crises and a dangerous decline in international trust, a senior Uzbek lawmaker has called for greater unity and multilateral cooperation to tackle shared crises.
Sodiq Safoyev, first deputy chairman of the Senate of the Oliy Majlis (national parliament) of Uzbekistan, said the world is navigating a complex era of "polycrisis" marked by wars, pandemics, and growing division, and that the response should not be to create new dividing lines, but to unite people and act collectively.
"Today we're living in a difficult time worldwide. Even some academicians defined the contemporary world as in a time of polycrisis or simultaneous occurrence of several catastrophic events, indeed, wars, pandemia, fragmentation of the world. And I think that it's a time not to create new division lines, but to unite the people and act together, vis-a-vis global challenges. I think that such an idea, proposed by his Excellency, Chairman [President] Xi Jinping, is very important, because it brings very clear idea that today we need to build cooperation and to think about the next generation's destiny, to save the earth from the challenges which we have," said Safoyev.
Safoyev also pushed back against the notion that deglobalization has taken hold, saying that international trade, information flows, and migration remain unstoppable. However, he warned that rising interconnectedness has been accompanied by a dangerous decline in mutual trust and understanding.
"Some people think that the process of deglobalization has started. I don't think so. I don't think that it's possible to stop international trade, flow of information, migration of people who want to study abroad, who want to work abroad. Globalization is not stopping and that's why interconnectedness of the nations only increases. But at the same time, simultaneously, we're absorbing diminishing of trust and understanding. It's a very dangerous combination. We connected, but we don't understand each other," said Safoyev.
Acknowledging that international organizations fail to meet public expectation in resolving conflicts, Safoyev said that regional mechanisms such as the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) and cooperation between China and Central Asian countries offer models for effective cooperation.
"And I think that international organizations today are not matching expectations of the people in the regard with preventing conflicts, preventing the problems and resolving them. And it's the most challenging issues of the contemporary world. And I think that's why the experience of Shanghai organizations [the Shanghai Cooperation Organization] and cooperation between China and Central Asian countries is very important to demonstrate that it's possible," said Safoyev.
He also said that Central Asia serves as a prime example of overcoming fragmentation and uniting, as the region has transformed from one plagued by border disputes, suspicion, and resource conflicts a decade ago into a cohesive, cooperating bloc.
"From the more positive side, I'd like to note that the situation in Central Asia is something which might give us some more optimism. Twenty years ago, even 10 years ago, Central Asia was divided, divided by suspicion, divided by unresolved issues like unresolved borders, many conflicts of interest in the regard with the using the water resources of the transnational water resources etc. Today, in a relatively short time, period of time, Central Asia became completely different, more and more consolidating, uniting, having joint approach to the regional problems. And that's why Central Asia started to lure more attention worldwide. We're seeing that [there are] more interests of the global actors with the Central Asia, and I think that it demonstrates to the whole world that it's possible today now to overcome fragmentation and to unite. And that's why we, as usual, have both some concerns. But at the same time, we must be optimists in looking ahead," said Safoyev.
He also said that wisdom of humanity and visionary leadership inspire optimism that building future of common shared destiny is possible.
Senior Uzbek lawmaker calls for regional unity, cooperation amid global "polycrisis"
