China Issues National Plan to Strengthen the Management of Ozone-Depleting Substances and Climate-Polluting Hydrofluorocarbons
9 April 2025 – China’s Ministry of Ecology and Environment, together with the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Commerce, and the General Administration of Customs, issued the National Plan on the Implementation of the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer (2025–2030) (hereinafter referred to as the "National Plan" or “Plan”). The National Plan, also referred to as a “Kigali Amendment Implementation Plan” within the Montreal Protocol community, strengthens China’s management of ozone-depleting substances (ODSs) and climate-polluting hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs). The Plan also describes implementation measures that span the full lifecycle of ODSs and HFCs, encompassing upstream source control, operational process management, end-of-life treatment, and transboundary trade controls.
In particular, the National Plan lays out the following goals and timelines related to HFC phasedown:
- As of 1 January 2026, it is prohibited to manufacture refrigerators and freezers using HFCs as refrigerants.
- As of 1 January 2029, it is prohibited to manufacture room air conditioners using refrigerants with a global warming potential (GWP) > 750 for domestic sale (excluding household multi-split air conditioners/heat pump units).
- As of 1 January 2029, it is prohibited to manufacture:
- Unitary air conditioners (with rated cooling or heating capacity ≤ 12 kW) using refrigerants with a GWP > 750;
- Ducted air conditioners (heat pump units) (with rated cooling or heating capacity ≤ 12 kW) using refrigerants with a GWP > 750; and
- Other refrigeration equipment or systems (except those with evaporation temperatures below -50°C) using refrigerants with a GWP > 2500. (Note that expanding this existing equipment or these systems is also prohibited).
- As of 1 July 2029, approving new M1-category (passenger) vehicle air conditioning systems using refrigerants with a GWP > 150 is prohibited.
To support the achievement of the goals listed above, the National Plan also lists a number of policy actions and research priorities as next steps, including:
- Including refrigerant GWP information on the energy efficiency labels of cooling products;
- Researching the incorporation into vehicle emissions standards of refrigerant use and leakage-control requirements for mobile air conditioners;
- Further strengthening the monitoring, measurement and reporting of HFC-23 by-production from hydrochlorofluorocarbon (HCFC)-22 production facilities and promoting the deployment of HFC-23 resource reutilization technologies;
- Strengthening the capacity for statistical accounting of HFC emissions, including researching the emission factors of HFC production and consumption; and
- Exploring the development of methodologies for HFC phasedown, recycling, reuse, and destruction projects under China’s voluntary greenhouse gas emissions trading system.
Additional IGSD resources:
- IGSD, China Issues Action Plan to Promote Development of the Heat Pump Industry (2 April 2025).
- IGSD, HFC-23 China Policy Brief (22 October 2024).
- IGSD, China Policy Developments Provide Opportunities to Tackle Lifecycle Refrigerant Management in the Cooling Equipment End-of-Life Recycling and Disposal Processes (27 July 2024).
- IGSD, China Strengthens Control of HFC Production for Kigali Amendment Implementation (8 July 2024).
- IGSD, China Issues Amended Regulation to Strengthen Its HFC Phasedown (5 January 2024); IGSD’s annotated, English reference translation of the Regulation on the Administration of Ozone-Depleting Substances is available here.
