China Launches National Zero-Carbon Factory Initiative

On July 22, 2026, China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) released the National Zero-Carbon Factory Construction Plan. Formulated to support China’s broader carbon peaking and carbon neutrality goals under the 15th Five-Year Plan, the policy aims to continuously drive down carbon dioxide emissions within facility boundaries toward net-zero through technical innovation, structural adjustments, and optimized management.

The plan sets out application criteria, required documentation, and evaluation metrics for establishing national-level zero-carbon facilities, encompassing both manufacturing plants and computing infrastructure.

Application Criteria for National Zero-Carbon Status

1. Target Facility Requirements

• Manufacturing Enterprises
  • Must possess independent legal entity status.
  • Must be an active manufacturing enterprise above designated size (annual main business revenue of 20 million RMB or more), consume at least 1,000 tonnes of standard coal equivalent (tce) in annual total energy consumption (using equivalent calorific value conversion for electricity), and already be listed on the National Green Factory Registry.
  • Energy consumption per unit of main product MUST meet or exceed Level 1 (advanced value) of compulsory national energy consumption limit standards and the benchmark level of the Energy Efficiency Benchmark and Baseline Levels in Key Industrial Sectors. If no applicable standard exists, the facility must reach industry-leading levels.
• Computing Infrastructure
  • The operating entity of the computing facility must possess independent legal entity status.
  • Facilities must have clear ownership, distinct and complete physical boundaries, and independent power distribution and cooling systems.
  • Facility scale must reach at least 3,000 standard racks (smart computing centers are exempt from this scale threshold).
  • Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) must achieve Level 2 or better under Maximum allowable values of energy efficiency and energy efficiency grades for data centers (GB 40879-2021), and the facility must already be listed on the National Green Computing Infrastructure Registry.

2. Key Target Requirements

Applicants must fulfill annual targets and formally commit to achieving 2030 targets.

3. Carbon Accounting & Management Strategy

Applicants must establish a comprehensive carbon accounting system, a clear energy conservation management framework, and a defined decarbonization roadmap.

4. Disqualification Criteria (Past 3 Years)

Facilities are ineligible if any of the following have occurred within the past 3 years:

• • Major or severe safety incidents (including network/data security and work safety), quality issues, or environmental pollution incidents.
  • Antitrust law violations.
  • Major non-compliance issues uncovered during supervisory inspections or audits.
  • Listing on industrial energy conservation compliance rectification lists without completing required corrective actions.
  • Inclusion on telecommunications operational non-compliance lists or dishonesty blacklists.
  • Relatively severe administrative penalties imposed by competent authorities.
  • Designation as a defaulted judgment debtor (dishonest person subject to enforcement).
  • Final legal judgments assigning liability in intellectual property or ownership disputes.

Required Application Documentation

Applicants must submit baseline documentation detailing, among other required information:

• • Company Profile: Main business activities, key products, financial and operating conditions, and related basic information.
  • Operational Status: Manufacturing processes, cooling and power supply configurations for computing facilities, and other operational details.
  • Energy Utilization: Energy consumption, energy efficiency, and power structure over the past three years—including fossil and non-fossil fuel electricity consumption, physically verified non-fossil electricity usage, Green Electricity Certificate (GEC) trading and consumption status, and other energy metrics.
  • Carbon Emissions: Historical greenhouse gas emission data for the preceding three years.

(Refer to Annex 2 of the official plan for specific contents.)

Evaluation Indicators

The standard measures progress using five key metric categories:

• • Source Emission Reduction Metrics: Aligns directly with the Key Target Requirements outlined in the application criteria.
  • Process Decarbonization Metrics: Energy consumption per unit of industrial added value (exempt for computing infrastructure), energy-saving equipment adoption rate, and carbon removal rate.
  • Synergistic Carbon Reduction Metrics: Percentage of products undergoing carbon footprint analysis and compliance count for zero-carbon supply chain management measures.
  • Smart Carbon Management Metrics: Level of digital integration in energy and carbon tracking systems.
  • Transparency & Disclosure Quality: Public accessibility and reliability of carbon emission disclosures.

(Refer to Annex 1 of the official plan for calculation formulas and specific indicators.)

EnivX Comment

While this plan is non-binding, qualifying enterprises are strongly encouraged to seek national zero-carbon factory certification. Obtaining this designation strengthens a company’s ability to meet stringent decarbonization requirements across international supply chains, improves ESG and green finance ratings, and builds a solid foundation for capturing future policy incentives in China’s evolving low-carbon economy.

The original Chinese text of the National Zero-Carbon Factory Construction Plan is available on the MIIT website:
https://www.miit.gov.cn/zwgk/zcwj/wjfb/tz/art/2026/art_e27f0b7be4914613ac52b8ac4e6a8c21.html