Strategic priorities for China’s energy innovation in the 14th Five-Year Plan

China’s Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST), the Administrative Centre for China’s Agenda 21 (ACCA21) and the IEA co-organised a closed-door workshop on 27 April 2021 to inform ongoing IEA analysis on innovation under the Clean Energy Transitions Programme. The discussions gathered Chinese government officials, academics, and energy innovation and technology experts from leading local institutions.

The workshop aimed to:

1. Build common understanding of the direction of energy innovation in China, with a particular focus on what the 14th Five-Year Plan might entail;
2. Examine the importance of energy innovation in reaching carbon neutrality goals, with a focus on technology areas of high priority for China;
3. Explore opportunities for deepened international collaboration to take forward China’s national and international goals. Chinese experts shared perspectives based on their sectoral expertise, as well as latest updates related to the 14th Five-Year Plan.

The workshop also featured a case-study session on carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) technologies, which presented latest findings from IEA-ACCA21 collaborative analysis and provided information on potential new projects in coming years.

Invited speakers and participants came from institutions including: ACCA21; China Academy of Building Research; China Academy of Science; China Automobile Technology and Research Centre; China Coal Research Institute; China Energy Engineering Corporation; China Electric Power Planning & Engineering Institute; China National Renewable Energy Centre; China Nuclear Energy Association; MOST; Tsinghua University; and Zhejiang University.

IEA contributions to this event were made possible through the Clean Energy Transitions in Emerging Economies programme, which received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 952363