Original Title: Policy Interpretation of the “Shanghai Action Plan for Promoting Green and Low-Carbon Industrial Development by Targeting New Growth Areas (2022–2025)”

In accordance with General Secretary Xi Jinping’s directive to “integrate ‘dual carbon’ efforts into the overall layout of ecological civilization construction and the broader context of economic and social development, and to advance carbon reduction, pollution control, greening, and economic growth in a coordinated manner,” we have focused on “industrial greening and decarbonization” and “the industrialization of green and low-carbon sectors” to formulate the “Shanghai Action Plan for Promoting Green and Low-Carbon Industrial Development by Targeting New Growth Areas (2022–2025)” (hereinafter referred to as the “Action Plan”).The general considerations and main contents of the Action Plan are interpreted as follows:

I. General Considerations

The Action Plan prioritizes how Shanghai should, against the backdrop of the “Dual Carbon” goals, accurately grasp its mission and tasks, seize investment opportunities, leverage its advantages across the entire industrial chain, make early strategic deployments to secure a competitive edge, take the lead in advancing technological and model innovations, and promote the mutual reinforcement of the “Dual Carbon” goals and economic growth.

First, seizing market demand arising from the “Six Transformations” to create new growth momentum. Analyzed from both the horizontal dimension of the entire energy processing and conversion industrial chain and the vertical dimension of the full product lifecycle, industrial development will center on “clean energy, low-carbon raw materials, functional materials, efficient processes, electrification of end-use, and resource recycling,” generating vast new market demand.

Second, we will focus our efforts on the “Ten Major Tracks” within the “Five New” sectors. Centered on “new technologies, new processes, new materials, new equipment, and new energy,” we will target the high-end of the industry, promote cluster development, expand application scenarios, and intensify integrated innovation, concentrating our efforts on 36 sub-sectors across 10 major fields.

Third, we will achieve breakthroughs by leveraging the “5+X” specialty industrial parks. Taking high-quality industrial parks as our main base, we will focus on industries such as hydrogen energy, high-end energy equipment, low-carbon metallurgy, and advanced materials to prioritize the development of five specialty industrial parks and the cultivation and upgrading of X potential parks, thereby forming a system of green and low-carbon specialty industrial parks.

II. Main Content

(I) Development Goals

1. Rapid growth in industrial scale. By 2025, the scale of the green and low-carbon industry will exceed 500 billion yuan, essentially forming an industrial cluster development pattern comprising 2 clusters worth 100 billion yuan each, 5 clusters worth 10 billion yuan each, and several clusters worth 1 billion yuan each. 2. Steady improvement in innovation capabilities. We aim to cultivate 10 municipal-level or higher manufacturing innovation centers and enterprise technology centers, 5 platforms for generic technology R&D and testing/inspection, and 5 research institutes of large enterprises and new-type R&D institutions.3. Gradual Expansion of Market Entities. Advance the “Ten-Hundred-Thousand” initiative, focusing on cultivating 10 leading green and low-carbon enterprises, 100 core enterprises, and 1,000 specialty enterprises, while establishing more than 200 green manufacturing demonstration units. 4. Improvement of the Industrial Park System. Establish a “5+X” system of green and low-carbon specialty industrial parks.

(II) Key Directions for Green and Low-Carbon Industries

Define the “Six-Pronged” Development Path. Clean Energy: Increase the proportion of solar, wind, nuclear, and hydrogen energy. Low-Carbon Raw Materials: Accelerate the substitution of low-carbon raw materials in petrochemicals, steel, and other sectors. Functional Materials: Promote lightweight and high-strength materials. Process Efficiency: Drive upgrades to energy-consuming systems and optimize production processes. End-Use Electrification: Promote the upgrading of end-use energy consumption toward electrification and intelligent systems. Resource Circulation: Build a resource-circulating industrial system.

(3) Green and Low-Carbon Industry Development Initiative

First, focus on high-end industries and lead in competitive sectors. 1. Cutting-edge technologies: Tackle a range of key technologies such as carbon-negative technologies, new energy, and high-efficiency energy storage. 2. High-end equipment: Accelerate the localization and cost reduction of key components for heavy-duty gas turbines, nuclear power, and wind power, and promote the clustering of the remanufacturing industry. 3. Ultimate energy efficiency: Promote the innovation and application of technical equipment in key industries, improve the energy efficiency of key processes and energy-consuming equipment, and diversify energy-saving service models.4. Low-carbon metallurgy: Tackle six major green and low-carbon processes, strengthen the production of high-quality green steel, and foster green and low-carbon industries related to steel.

Second, promote cluster development to broaden the scope of competitive fields. 5. New Energy Vehicles: Establish a supply system for key component technologies and products; leverage the leading role of major new energy vehicle manufacturers to drive industry growth; and develop the recycling industry for retired power batteries. 6. Hydrogen Industry: Establish a diversified hydrogen supply system; achieve breakthroughs in key technologies such as long-life fuel cell stacks; and promote the application of various hydrogen storage and transportation technologies and equipment.

Third, expand application scenarios to capture emerging markets. 7. Green materials: Extend and strengthen the carbon fiber industry chain; expand applications of high-temperature superconducting and photocatalytic materials; and develop low-carbon chemical industries such as the production of synthesis gas from natural gas and CO2. 8. Carbon trading and carbon finance: Encourage financial institutions to participate and invigorate the carbon finance market; and orderly advance the innovation and market entry of carbon financial derivatives.

Fourth, intensify integrated innovation to achieve leapfrog development. 9. Carbon capture and utilization: Research next-generation CO₂ capture technologies, explore the resource-based utilization of CO₂ through biological and chemical processes, and expand CCUS application scenarios. 10. Smart grids: Accelerate the deployment of new energy terminals and smart grid infrastructure, and strengthen smart energy services.

(IV) Specialized Industrial Park Initiative

First, establish five specialized industrial parks. The “Jiading Hydrogen Energy Hub” will build a complete industrial chain for hydrogen fuel cell vehicles; the “Lingang International Hydrogen Valley” will create a world-class hydrogen energy industrial cluster and build an internationally leading hydrogen-based society; the “Lingang Power City” will develop the R&D, design, and manufacturing of high-end power key components and complete sets of equipment, creating a “air, space, land, sea, and energy” power cluster;The “Baowu (Shanghai) Carbon Neutrality Industrial Park” will focus on innovative development, conducting R&D on low-carbon metallurgical processes and equipment to establish a leading position in “carbon neutrality” technology R&D for the steel industry; the “Shanghai Chemical Industry Park Green and Low-Carbon Demonstration Park” will build a diversified hydrogen supply model, accelerating breakthroughs in key materials and the substitution of low-carbon raw materials.

Second, we will cultivate and upgrade X promising industrial parks. The Huaneng Shidongkou II Power Plant will tackle technical challenges such as next-generation CO₂ capture; the Qingpu Hydrogen Energy Economic Ecological Park will build a hydrogen-powered vehicle industrial chain; the Lingang Remanufacturing Industrial Park will focus on the remanufacturing of automotive parts, construction machinery, and other equipment; and the Changxing Low-Carbon Innovation Industrial Park will prioritize the development of the green marine equipment industry. We will promote the construction of various carbon-neutral innovation technology platforms.

(5) Industrial Ecosystem Improvement Initiative

First, create a hub for scientific and technological innovation. Focusing on generic, cutting-edge, and disruptive technologies, we will intensify research efforts and strengthen collaboration among government, industry, academia, research institutions, and end-users. Second, promote the coordinated development of industrial chains. We will leverage the leading role of flagship enterprises to enhance the specialized collaboration and supporting capabilities of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and establish a number of green supply chains. Third, advance the development of a standards system. We will formulate a set of standards that are domestically leading and internationally advanced to build Shanghai’s low-carbon manufacturing standards system.

(6) Support Measures

First, strengthen coordination and collaboration. Relevant municipal departments will enhance coordination and cooperation, while districts and industrial parks will intensify efforts to attract investment, encouraging enterprises, industry organizations, and research institutions to strengthen collaboration. Second, increase policy support. Implement national green and low-carbon development policies and comprehensively utilize fiscal, financial, investment, and land-use policies. Third, accelerate talent development. Increase the recruitment and training of talent for the green and low-carbon industry, forming a tiered, multi-channel talent development system.Fourth, deepen domestic and international cooperation. Leveraging the high-quality integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta and Shanghai’s role as a “window” and “bridge” for opening up to the outside world, we will advance domestic and international cooperation in areas such as technology and finance. Fifth, strengthen guidance on green and low-carbon development. Through activities such as Energy Conservation Promotion Week and the Carbon Expo, we will disseminate the concept of low-carbon development, foster a favorable public opinion environment, and promote green and low-carbon consumption.