China's green transition: From Yangtze revival to hydrogen corridors

Editor's note: China will hold its annual Two Sessions in early March. Ahead of this year's key political meetings, CGTN presents a special series, China Agenda, offering multi-angle insights into China's whole-process people's democracy, its socio-economic achievements, and the development vision outlined in the 15th Five-Year Plan.

Defying global headwinds, China has accelerated its green and low-carbon transition, establishing the world's most comprehensive carbon-reduction policy framework and building the largest renewable energy system. As a global leader in renewable energy, it is expanding green production capacity while contributing to a cleaner world.

During the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-2025), Chinese courts have strengthened judicial support for ecological protection in the Yangtze River basin, focusing on pollution control, the 10-year fishing ban and orderly resource development.

Since the launch of the Yangtze River protection strategy, the Supreme People's Court has issued six guiding opinions on ecological civilization and the Yangtze River Economic Belt, formulated or revised 23 judicial interpretations on environmental and resource issues, and released dozens of guiding and typical cases to promote green and low-carbon transformation.

Ecological outcomes have been tangible. An evaluation of 145 national-level nature reserves in the Yangtze River Economic Belt shows notable progress in protecting rare and endangered species.

The world's largest ex situ population of the Yangtze finless porpoise has been established at the Tian'ezhou National Nature Reserve in central China's Hubei Province. In southwest China, the number of monitored wild giant pandas increased from 18 to 40 in Sichuan Province, while the Asian elephant population grew from 227 to 293 in Yunnan Province.

The Court has pledged to further strengthen restoration efforts, crack down on illegal wastewater discharge and solid-waste dumping, and make ecological recovery a top priority.

In the transportation sector, hydrogen is emerging as a new driver of low-carbon transformation. The number of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles on the national demonstration platform has reached 27,000, and applications are expected to expand during the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-2030).

Recently, 300 hydrogen-powered heavy trucks were put into operation in Yunnan as the "hydrogen corridor" was completed in southwestern China.

Spanning about 400 kilometers across Yunnan and Guizhou, the corridor supports long-distance logistics for steel and mineral products. Equipped with domestically developed 130-kilowatt fuel cell systems, the trucks can travel over 600 kilometers under a 49-tonne load and refuel in 15 minutes, forming a complete chain from renewable energy development to clean hydrogen supply and green transport use.

International observers see broader implications. Ozge Aydogan, director of the Beyond Lab at the UN Office at Geneva, said systemic thinking beyond short-term considerations is essential for future development.

She noted that China's concept of ecological civilization aligns with the idea of a regenerative economy and that its exploration of renewable energy, green manufacturing and zero-carbon factories offers important reference for global transformation beyond 2030.

At the urban level, China is also scaling up zero-waste initiatives. Under the 14th Five-Year Plan, 113 prefecture-level cities and eight special regions have been designated to advance zero-waste construction. Hangzhou, capital of east China's Zhejiang Province, has been selected as one of the "20 Cities Towards Zero Waste" by the UN Secretary-General's Advisory Board on Zero Waste.

From 2021 to 2024, the city's daily per capita municipal solid waste generation fell from 1.06 kg to 0.99 kg, supported by a smart waste management platform connecting thousands of collection points and facilities.

From judicial safeguards to hydrogen corridors and zero-waste cities, China is advancing a development path that balances growth and emissions reduction, offering practical experience for sustainable transformation.