On January 8, 2026, the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR), via its National Standardization Administration (SAC), approved 12 national standards for carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS), which is globally recognized as a critical technological solution for achieving carbon neutrality goals. The newly released standards package covers the entire CCUS value chain—capture, transportation, and storage—as well as foundational areas such as terminology and emissions reduction accounting. These standards will take effect on July 1, 2026.

Regarding the capture, GB/T 46877-2025 Carbon dioxide capture—General requirements for post-combustion CO2 capture system specifies system classification, composition, technical criteria, and performance evaluation methodologies, offering clear operational guidance for post-combustion capture facilities. In terms of the transportation, GB/T 46875-2025 Quality requirements for carbon dioxide medium entering long-distance transportation pipeline establishes quality indicators, sampling methods, testing methods, and inspection rules for carbon dioxide medium entering long-distance pipelines, helping ensure safe and stable pipeline operations.

Moreover, the storage aspect is addressed by the GB/T 46878-2025 Carbon dioxide capture, transportation and geological storage—Geological storage, which sets forth requirements for site screening, selection, and assessment methods, storage capacity evaluation methods, injection operation scheme design and risk management, and storage project management requirements, providing a systematic technical framework for storage operations. At the foundational level, GB/T 46872-2025 Carbon dioxide capture, transportation and geological storage—Vocabulary—Cross cutting terms systematically establish key terminology and clarify the accounting boundaries, procedures, and methodologies for greenhouse gas emission reductions of CCUS projects.

Notably, among the 12 newly released CCUS national standards, five are identically adopted from ISO International Standards, namely GB/T 46878-2025 (ISO 27914:2017), GB/T 46871-2025 (ISO 27916:2019), GB/T 46870.1-2025 (ISO 27919-1:2018), GB/T 46870.2-2025 (ISO 27919-2:2021), and GB/T 46872-2025 (ISO 27917:2017). More details can be found in the standards list below.

The release and implementation of these standards will effectively unify fundamental concepts and establish unified technical specifications, testing methods, and evaluation criteria for the implementation of key processes such as carbon dioxide capture, transport, storage, and quantification. This will promote technological innovation and industrial application across the entire CCUS chain, contributing to deep decarbonization and high-quality development of the economy and society. For foreign stakeholders, this marks not just a technical upgrade, but a shift of China’s CCUS market from “rules pending” to “rules transparent.” Those with ISO-aligned technologies and full-chain expertise stand to gain systemic market access advantages.

Source: https://www.sac.gov.cn/xw/bzhdt/art/2026/art_31c8035e86264920bedf495e4b0e5eaa.html