Economic Daily:

This year marks the third year of the implementation of the 14th Five-Year Plan. Can you talk about what progress has been made concerning the plan for energy development during the 14th Five-Year Plan period? Thank you.

Liang Changxin:

Thank you for your question. Since the launch of the 14th Five-Year Plan, under the guidance of the new energy security strategy of promoting reforms in energy consumption, supply, technologies, and systems while strengthening international cooperation on all fronts, smooth progress has been made on the main objectives and indicators of energy planning; great advancement has been made in key tasks; and the construction of major projects has been carried out in an orderly manner. All these have laid a sound foundation for the development of a new energy system. The progress is mainly demonstrated in five aspects. First, the demand for energy with growth beyond expectation has been ensured. During the first two years of the 14th Five-Year Plan period, the growth of energy consumption had been higher than expected, with an annual growth rate of 1.5 times that of the 13th Five-Year Plan period. The foundation for energy security has been strengthened. The overall energy production capacity has developed at a faster pace. The production of standard coal reached 4.9 billion tons in 2022, and primary energy production increased by 14.2% over the last two years. Compared with the energy crisis in Europe, China has maintained overall stability in energy supplies and prices. Second, investment in major energy projects has demonstrated strong growth. The key projects of the 14th Five-Year Plan for energy development have been advanced, and over 50% of the projects in the plan have begun construction. Investment in major energy projects nationwide totaled over 4 trillion yuan in the past two years, with a growth rate of 12.2 percentage points higher than that of the investment in infrastructure nationwide during the same period. All of these factors have played a leading role in expanding domestic demand, stabilizing investment, promoting growth, and ensuring safety. Third, notable achievements have been made in expanding green development and cutting carbon emissions in energy development. Since the launch of the 14th Five-Year Plan, new energy development has been further accelerated. The newly installed wind and photovoltaic power capacities have surpassed 100 million kW for three consecutive years. The annual output of electricity generated by new energy is over 1 trillion kWh, with an increase of over 60% over the past two years. Non-fossil energy accounts for nearly 40% of the increase in energy consumption, with equivalent reductions in carbon emissions of about 600 million metric tons of carbon dioxide in total. Fourth, high-quality services for energy consumption regarding people's livelihoods have continued to be improved. Clean heating accounts for over 70% of all heating in China's northern region, surpassing the goals outlined in the plan and contributing to over 30% of the improvement in air quality. About 5.6 million charging facilities have been built nationwide, more than three times that of 2020, ensuring the charging needs of over 10 million new energy vehicles. In addition, the full-scale nationwide supply of State ⅥB standard gasoline for motor vehicles has been ensured, with world-leading refined oil quality. Fifth, the growth driver for the innovative development of energy has been further enhanced. The Hualong One demonstration project, a domestically designed third-generation nuclear reactor, has been built and put into operation. The Baihetan hydropower station, with the largest single-unit capacity in the world, has been built and put into full operation. The research and application of a group of new energy technologies, including large-scale energy storage and hydrogen power, have made new progress. The development of the national unified power market system has been accelerated. In 2022, the proportion of market-based electricity transactions in total electricity consumption surpassed 60%, 20 percentage points higher than that of 2020. Thank you.