China plans to rein in its energy consumption to within 6 billion tons of standard coal by 2030, according to a strategy on energy production and consumption for the next 15 years, issued by the country's National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) on April 25.

As the world's largest energy producer and consumer, China's total primary energy produced in 2016 was 3.46 billion tons of standard coal, and the country's consumption of primary energy in the same year reached 4.36 billion tons of standard coal.

Reliance on fossil fuels, imbalanced supply and demand in the power industry and over-dependence on foreign crude oil have become urgent issues for China in recent years. The new strategy contains a number of "red lines" for energy consumption. China plans to rein in its energy consumption to within 5 billion tons of standard coal by 2020, and further lower the proportion of coal consumption. In addition, carbon emissions per GDP unit will be reduced by 18 percent and energy consumption per GDP unit by 15 percent compared with those figures in 2015.

By 2030, China's energy consumption will be within 6 billion tons of standard coal, with non-fossil energy accounting for 20 percent of total energy consumption and natural gas accounting for 15 percent. New energy demands will be satisfied by clean energy, according to the strategy. In addition, carbon emissions per GDP unit will be lowered by between 60 and 65 percent compared with 2005 levels. Emissions should reach their peak by 2030.

The strategy stressed that the strictest possible pollution-reduction regime should be implemented, and the country should enhance its control over the steel, chemical and power industries to prevent the release of fine atmospheric articles.