General Office of the CPC Central Committee and General Office of the State Council issue the "Comprehensive Evaluation and Assessment Measures for Peak Carbon and Carbon Neutrality".

Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, April 23 (Xinhua) - Recently, the General Office of the CPC Central Committee and the General Office of the State Council issued the "Comprehensive Evaluation and Assessment Methods for Carbon Peak and Carbon Neutrality", and issued a notice requiring all regions and departments to carefully implement it. The full text of the "Comprehensive Evaluation and Assessment Methods for Carbon Peak and Carbon Neutrality" is as follows: Comprehensive Evaluation and Assessment Methods for Carbon Peak and Carbon Neutrality (Approved at the meeting of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee on February 26, 2026; Issued by the General Office of the CPC Central Committee and the General Office of the State Council on April 12, 2026) Chapter I General Provisions Article 1: In order to play the strategic leading role of carbon peak and carbon neutrality, accelerate the establishment of a dual control system for total carbon emissions and intensity, and promote local party committees and governments to establish and practice the correct performance evaluation view, and resolutely shoulder the responsibility for carbon peak and carbon neutrality, according to the "Opinions of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council on Implementing the Carbon Peak and Carbon Neutrality Work in Accordance with the New Development Philosophy" and the "Opinions of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council on Accelerating Comprehensive Green Transformation of Economic and Social Development" and relevant regulations, these methods are formulated. Article 2: These methods apply to the evaluation and assessment of the implementation of the carbon peak and carbon neutrality targets by the party committees and governments of provinces (autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government) starting from the year 2026, and the evaluation and assessment of the progress of comprehensive green transformation of economic and social development. Article 3: Under the centralized and unified leadership of the Party Central Committee, the evaluation and assessment work is coordinated and guided by the Central Organization Department and implemented by the National Development and Reform Commission in conjunction with relevant departments. Article 4: The evaluation and assessment shall follow the principles of party and government joint responsibility, double responsibilities for one position, overall consideration, objectivity and fairness, scientific norms, and focus on effectiveness. Chapter II Evaluation and Assessment Content Article 5: The evaluation and assessment closely focus on the implementation of the decisions and deployments of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council on carbon peak and carbon neutrality, as well as the national contributions to climate change, to promote provinces (autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government) to implement the targets of total carbon emissions and intensity control. Article 6: The evaluation and assessment sets control indicators and support indicators. Control indicators include total carbon emissions, reduction of carbon emission intensity, total coal consumption, total oil consumption, proportion of non-fossil energy consumption, etc. Supporting indicators include energy saving, industry, urban and rural construction, transportation, public institutions, carbon emission rights trading, and other areas with representative indicators that support carbon peak and carbon neutrality. Article 7: During the "Fourteenth Five-Year Plan" period, the National Development and Reform Commission, together with relevant departments, should formulate the "Fourteenth Five-Year" action plan for carbon peak in order to achieve the carbon peak target before 2030 as scheduled, ensure the reduction of carbon emission intensity by more than 65% compared to 2005 by 2030, and the proportion of non-fossil energy consumption by 2030 to reach 25%. It aims to achieve the peaking of total coal consumption and total oil consumption, reasonably control the scale of coal-fired power generation and electricity, and strive to gradually cover the annual new clean energy electricity with the total new electricity consumption of the whole society. Article 8: During the "Fourteenth Five-Year Plan" period, the party committees and governments of provinces (autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government) should formulate provincial-level action plans for carbon peak according to the targets at the national level, determine the five-year targets and annual targets of various indicators in the region, and propose corresponding tasks and measures. The provincial-level action plans should be completed on time, examined and approved by the National Development and Reform Commission and relevant departments, submitted to the Party Central Committee and the State Council for approval, and used as the basis for the follow-up evaluation and assessment of provinces (autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government). When the National Development and Reform Commission and relevant departments review the provincial-level action plans, they should focus on achieving the national-level targets, urge localities to implement requirements for the new (reconstruction, expansion) "two-high" industrial projects to implement carbon emission exchange or reduction, consider the main functional orientation, industry and energy structure, natural resource endowment, and other factors in different types of regions, coordinate rigid constraints and flexible regulation, and reflect differentiated requirements. Article 9: Starting from the "Fifteenth Five-Year Plan" period, in the first year of each five-year planning period, the National Development and Reform Commission, together with relevant departments, shall formulate a national action plan for carbon emission control according to the phased targets determined by the Party Central Committee and the State Council, and provinces (autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government) shall formulate provincial action plans for carbon emission control to gradually achieve carbon neutrality. Article 10: The National Development and Reform Commission, together with relevant departments, shall timely formulate the annual implementation plan for evaluation and assessment, specify work measures, clarify the evaluation and assessment rules for various indicators, and adjust and improve the indicator system as needed based on the situation and work requirements. Chapter III Evaluation and Assessment Procedures Article 11: The evaluation and assessment work is carried out annually and implemented in the following year of the evaluation and assessment year. Article 12: The party committees and governments of provinces (autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government) conduct self-evaluation of the annual work of carbon peak and carbon neutrality in their respective areas and submit the self-evaluation report to the Party Central Committee and the State Council on time, with copies to the National Development and Reform Commission and other departments responsible for evaluation and assessment. Article 13: Relevant departments assess the national annual progress of the indicators they are responsible for and evaluate the annual progress of provinces (autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government). The evaluation results of a single indicator for provinces (autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government) are classified as either meeting or not meeting the standard. For evaluation results that do not meet the standard, the responsible department of the related indicator should analyze the problems and reasons in the work of the province (autonomous region, and municipality directly under the Central Government) and provide improvement suggestions, forming written opinions. Relevant departments shall timely submit the evaluation results and written opinions to the National Development and Reform Commission. Article 14: The National Development and Reform Commission, with relevant departments, shall conduct on-site inspections, commission third-party verification, and verify the progress of work, implementation of tasks, achievement of goals, and authenticity of data of relevant provinces (autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government). Article 15: The National Development and Reform Commission, based on self-evaluation at the local level, departmental evaluations, on-site verification, etc., shall propose yearly evaluation and assessment results and recommendations for comprehensive evaluation and assessment of carbon peak and carbon neutrality for provinces (autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government). After consultation with the Central Organization Department, it shall submit the results to the Party Central Committee and the State Council in accordance with the procedure. Provinces (autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government) where all control indicators and support indicators meet the standard will be rated as "Excellent"; provinces (autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government) where one or more control indicators do not meet the standard or three or more support indicators do not meet the standard will be rated as "Unqualified"; the rest will be rated as "Qualified". Chapter IV Utilization of Evaluation and Assessment Results Article 16: After the evaluation and assessment results are approved by the Party Central Committee and the State Council, the Central Organization Department and the National Development and Reform Commission shall provide feedback to the party committees and governments of provinces (autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government) according to the procedure and submit them to the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the State Supervision. Article 17: Based on the evaluation and assessment results, discussions, reminders, and commendations will be conducted with relevant provinces (autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government). For provinces (autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government) whose evaluation and assessment results are "Unqualified," the Central Organization Department and the National Development and Reform Commission will urge the party committees and governments of the relevant provinces (autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government) to submit a written report to the Party Central Committee and the State Council within 30 working days after receiving the feedback. They should propose rectification measures and specify the completion deadline. If the rectification is not completed within the deadline, the Central Organization Department and the National Development and Reform Commission, together with relevant departments, will conduct discussions with the party committees and governments of the province (autonomous region, and municipality directly under the Central Government). For provinces (autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government) that have been rated as "Qualified" but have some indicators that do not meet the standard, the responsible departments for the relevant indicators will issue reminders within a certain scope. For provinces (autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government) whose evaluation and assessment results are "Excellent" or have outstanding performance in a single indicator, the National Development and Reform Commission, together with relevant departments, will issue commendations, summarize and promote good practices and experiences in a timely manner. Article 18: The evaluation and assessment results shall be an important reference for the comprehensive assessment, selection and appointment, supervision, and management of the leadership team and relevant leading cadres of the party committees and governments of provinces (autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government). If major dereliction of duty is discovered during the evaluation and assessment, the National Development and Reform Commission, together with relevant departments, will recommend accountability, and relevant issues and factual materials will be transferred to the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the State Supervision, and the Central Organization Department for further investigation. For units and individuals with outstanding performance in the evaluation and assessment, relevant provinces (autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government) and departments can commend and reward them according to regulations. Article 19: The evaluation and assessment should be objective, fair, and just. For acts of favoritism, deceit, deception, data tampering, and fabrication that seriously distort the evaluation and assessment results, the evaluation and assessment results for the provinces (autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government) concerned will be directly determined as "Unqualified", and relevant units and personnel will be seriously held accountable according to relevant regulations. Chapter V Implementation of Evaluation and Assessment Article 20: The evaluation and assessment mainly relies on national statistical data. In the case of missing statistical data or insufficient timeliness to meet the evaluation and assessment needs, national carbon market data and relevant departments' statistical, investigative, monitoring, and accounting data can be used. The National Bureau of Statistics and other departments in charge of data should provide the necessary data for the evaluation and assessment to the relevant departments responsible for the evaluation and assessment in a timely manner. Article 21: The National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, and the National Bureau of Statistics should continuously improve the carbon emission statistical accounting system, enhance data statistical, investigative, monitoring, and accounting capabilities in conjunction with other departments responsible for evaluation and assessment, and strengthen the data support for evaluation and assessment. The National Development and Reform Commission, the National Bureau of Statistics, and the National Energy Administration should establish an important data dynamic monitoring and early warning system, regularly monitor national and provincial (autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government) indicators such as carbon emissions, coal consumption, oil consumption, new electricity consumption, new clean energy electricity consumption, etc., and issue warnings and alerts to the relevant provinces (autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government) as needed. Article 22: Provinces (autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government) should integrate the evaluation and assessment work, coordinate carbon peak and carbon neutrality, economic and social development, and energy security to scientifically decompose and solidify emission reduction responsibilities, ensure the smooth transition from energy consumption control to carbon emission control, steadily and orderly reduce carbon emissions in traditional industries, and resolutely curb the blind launching of "two-high" projects. It is necessary to combine effective markets with proactive government policies, actively utilize various market-based emission reduction mechanisms such as the carbon market. For provinces (autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government) whose evaluation and assessment results are significantly affected by major natural disasters, emergencies, or other non-human factors, the National Development and Reform Commission, together with relevant departments, will comprehensively assess and provide realistic evaluation and assessment result recommendations, and include a separate explanation in the report to the Party Central Committee and the State Council. Chapter VI Supplementary Provisions Article 23: The State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council should formulate evaluation and assessment systems related to the implementation of carbon peak and carbon neutrality tasks by central enterprises in accordance with these methods. Article 24: These methods are to be interpreted by the National Development and Reform Commission. Article 25: These methods shall come into effect from the date of issuance. Source: Xinhua News Agency; Editor: Chen Xiaoyi.