China Issues 2026-2030 Circular Economy Roadmap with 2035 Vision

On June 30, 2026, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), with the approval of the State Council, issued the 15th Five-Year Plan for Circular Economy Development, outlining strategic directions, key targets, and priority actions for the period through 2030, with a longer-term vision toward 2035.

China’s circular economy has achieved significant progress, with its resource recycling industry reaching an output value of 5 trillion yuan in 2025, while major resource productivity rose by approximately 77 percent from the 2012 level. Yet the 15th Five-Year Plan period brings tougher resource security and carbon peaking demands, alongside persistent challenges in collection channels, technology, and industrial structure. With global resource competition intensifying and circularity becoming an international consensus, the new plan is being developed under existing laws like the Ecological and Environmental Protection Code and the Circular Economy Promotion Law and central policy to systematically tackle these issues and promote high-quality development.

To this end, the Plan sets out targets for 2030: major resource productivity will rise by about 16 percent from the 2025 level; comprehensive utilization of bulk solid waste will reach approximately 4.5 billion tons annually; the annual recycling volume of major renewable resources will hit 510 million tons; and the resource recycling industry’s output value will expand to 8 trillion yuan. By 2035, a high-quality circular economy system is expected to be in place, with resource efficiency reaching internationally advanced levels.

The Plan also outlines priority tasks to achieve these targets. In line with the core principles of reduction, recovery and reuse, the Plan calls for strengthening the foundation for waste reduction through green design, cleaner production, and sustainable consumption; accelerating resource recovery across industrial, agricultural, and forestry sectors; and expanding the scale of reuse and remanufacturing. In parallel, to address weak links in the value chain, the Plan prioritizes improving collection networks for waste materials and upgrading the recycling industry to enhance its overall competitiveness.

A robust package of supporting measures will be put in place to facilitate implementation, including upgrading legal frameworks, refining standards, certification, and statistical systems, and strengthening fiscal and financial instruments to incentivize recycling activities. Regarding circular economic standardization, the Plan calls for establishing a technical standardization committee, developing a full-chain standards framework, and tightening oversight on implementation of standards. To create market incentives, circular economy practices will be supported for inclusion in carbon markets and carbon inclusion schemes, while international mutual recognition of standards and certification will be pursued. Inspection and testing capacity will be reinforced.

For European stakeholders, China’s commitment to advancing its circular economy may create new opportunities in technology cooperation, certification services, and carbon market participation. At the same time, tighter environmental compliance and China’s push for greater resource self-sufficiency may add to competitive pressures in international secondary materials trade. The actual impact, however, will largely depend on how the Plan is implemented and enforced locally, a process that bears watching for European businesses and policymakers alike.

Source: https://www.gov.cn/zhengce/202607/content_7074216.htm