China has issued a new five-year plan to expand its circular economy, aiming to lift the output of the resource recycling industry to 8 trillion yuan (over one trillion U.S. dollars) by 2030, the National Development and Reform Commission said.
The Circular Economy Development Plan for the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-2030) period is the country's fourth consecutive national five-year plan for the sector, as China seeks to build a more mature system for conserving resources, reducing waste and reusing discarded materials.
The circular economy focuses on making better use of resources across their life cycle, from production and consumption to recycling and reuse. Under the new plan, China aims to further improve its circular economy system covering the full chain of production, consumption, recovery and utilization by 2030.
By then, the annual comprehensive use of bulk solid waste is expected to reach 4.5 billion tons, while the annual recycling of major renewable resources is targeted at 510 million tons, according to the plan.
The plan also sets out a series of new policy measures. It calls for developing circular economy services, improving the layout of related industries, streamlining resource recycling chains, and bringing waste from computing facilities and other new forms of infrastructure into the recycling system for the first time.
On the consumer side, the plan puts greater emphasis on green consumption and waste reduction.
"The plan incorporates green consumption into the waste-reduction system. For example, it includes 'replacing plastic with bamboo' in a dedicated circular economy plan for the first time, encouraging the whole society to reduce plastic use and curb plastic pollution," said Zhu Liyang, president of the China Association of Circular Economy.
China targets 8 trln yuan circular economy industry by 2030
