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Recently, **five departments including the National Development and Reform Commission issued the \"Notice on Launching a Three-Year Action Plan for Energy Conservation and Carbon Reduction Transformations in Key Industries\", formulating the \"Three-Year Action Plan for Energy Conservation and Carbon Reduction Transformations in Key Industries\" (hereinafter referred to as the \"Action Plan\"). This plan outlines the overall requirements, key tasks, safeguard measures, and organizational arrangements for such transformations in key industries, and plays an important role in accelerating their green and low-carbon transition, expanding effective investment, and promoting the improvement and upgrading of these industries. The Action Plan outlines specific tasks and requirements for energy conservation and carbon reduction improvements in industries such as oil refining, ethylene production, synthetic ammonia manufacturing, and methanol production. It provides a clear roadmap and implementation plan for unlocking the potential for energy conservation and carbon reduction in key areas of the petrochemical industry in the coming period. I. Focusing on key sectors with high levels of energy consumption and carbon emissions, as well as high intensity of such emissions, the Plan identifies these areas as the main fronts for efforts to save energy and reduce carbon emissions. It targets 9 industries, including oil refining, ethylene production, ammonia synthesis, and methanol production, and proposes to carry out comprehensive reforms aimed at reducing energy consumption and carbon emissions over a period of 3 years. This approach helps to concentrate efforts and resources, thereby facilitating further progress in these efforts to save energy and reduce carbon emissions. By 2025, the total energy consumption and total carbon emissions in the refining, ethylene, synthetic ammonia, and methanol industries will account for 42% and 53% of the total energy consumption and total carbon emissions in the petrochemical industry respectively, making these industries the main sub-sectors that consume energy and generate carbon emissions within the petrochemical sector. These four industries have a large number of enterprises, with diverse process routes and equipment types; their energy and carbon efficiency levels vary significantly. Some of their production capacities still have efficiency levels below the benchmark, and the proportion of facilities that meet the benchmark standards is low, indicating significant potential for energy-saving and carbon-reduction upgrades. With the development and dissemination of advanced technologies and equipment, there is ongoing room for improvement in energy and carbon efficiency. In the oil refining and ethylene industries, there are numerous opportunities for renovation and upgrading, such as advanced control technologies for core equipment and processes, optimization of steam systems, improvement of cracking furnace efficiency, optimization of hydrogen and fuel gas systems, electrification and modernization of high-energy-consuming equipment, and broader application of green electricity ； From the perspective of the ammonia and methanol industries, the enlargement of gasification units and the adoption of waste heat recovery systems, the use of high-efficiency synthesis catalysts, the application of isothermal shift reactions, the utilization of waste heat and pressure, an increase in the level of electrification, carbon capture and utilization, the replacement of energy-efficient equipment, and the integration with green hydrogen are all important aspects of efforts to save energy and reduce carbon emissions. Building on the policies for energy conservation and carbon reduction in key industries formulated during the 14th Five-Year Plan period, the Action Plan continues to identify oil refining, ethylene production, synthetic ammonia manufacturing, and methanol production as key areas for transformation and upgrading. It sets clearer goals, and the various key tasks outlined are all aligned with the aforementioned technological and industrial development directions. This approach reflects the policy’s systematic nature, continuity, and forward-looking perspective, and it helps to guide enterprises to make steady progress, using key breakthroughs to drive overall advancements in energy conservation and carbon reduction across the entire petrochemical industry. The Action Plan also proposes that facilities and processes such as atmospheric and vacuum distillation with a capacity of less than 10 million tons per year, catalytic cracking with a capacity of less than 1.5 million tons per year, continuous reforming with a capacity of less than 1 million tons per year, hydrocracking with a capacity of less than 1.5 million tons per year, ethylene production via naphtha cracking with a capacity of less than 800,000 tons per year, and open-type delayed coking should be accelerated in terms of renovation and upgrading. It is specified that after these renovations, the proportion of production capacity that meets the current energy efficiency standards should increase by an average of 20 percentage points, while production capacity below those efficiency standards should be virtually eliminated. This is not only a concrete measure to achieve the goals of carbon peak and carbon neutrality, but it also serves as an effective way to regulate high-energy-consuming and high-emission projects, to systematically phase out outdated and inefficient production capacities and processes in accordance with the law, and to address structural issues within the industry. II. By comprehensively applying measures such as financial support, price regulation, policy incentives, and standard setting, efforts to reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions in key areas are ensured to be effectively implemented. The Action Plan adopts a problem-oriented approach and formulates systematic and targeted safeguard measures. First, in terms of financial support and safeguards. The Action Plan once again emphasizes the need to increase central government investment support, providing financial subsidies at a certain rate for energy-saving and carbon-reduction renovation projects that meet the relevant criteria, with priority given to those projects whose energy efficiency reaches benchmark levels after the renovations. In addition to investments from the central budget, funds from ultra-long-term special government bonds will also cover the renewal of energy-intensive equipment as part of their support scope. Energy-saving and carbon-reduction renovation projects will require substantial funding. The Action Plan emphasizes encouraging financial institutions to offer a variety of financial products and services to meet the needs of such renovations, thereby further enhancing the role of finance in facilitating green transformation. Second, in terms of price guidance and regulation. The Action Plan primarily relies on electricity price regulation tools; it calls for taking into account factors such as the implementation of policies regarding capacity and production control, energy consumption and carbon emissions levels, as well as environmental performance, in order to integrate various electricity price policies into a unified set of differentiated electricity price measures, while also specifying the required range for price increases. As the electrification rate in the petrochemical industry increases gradually, the regulatory role of electricity price policies will become more prominent, effectively boosting the motivation of enterprises in industries such as oil refining, ethylene production, ammonia synthesis, and methanol production to carry out energy-saving and carbon-reduction reforms. Third, in terms of policy coordination and incentives. The Action Plan specifies the amount of carbon dioxide emissions reduced through energy-saving and carbon-reduction upgrades in existing industrial enterprises; once verified by the provincial energy-saving authorities in conjunction with relevant departments, this amount can be used as a source for offsetting the carbon emissions from new (renovated or expanded) high-carbon industrial projects in that region. This provides an important solution to the problem faced by local areas, where there is a lack of sources to offset carbon emissions from new (renovated or expanded) petrochemical and chemical projects. It will effectively encourage existing petrochemical and chemical enterprises to intensify their efforts in energy-saving and carbon-reduction upgrades, thereby achieving a win-win situation where existing projects see improvements in energy efficiency and carbon reduction, while new projects are optimized and upgraded. Fourth, in terms of standard guidance and constraints. Mandatory standards regarding energy consumption limits in the refining, ethylene, synthetic ammonia, and methanol industries, as well as standards for energy efficiency of key energy-consuming products and equipment, are already in effect. Standards related to carbon emission limits are currently being developed. These standards will provide technical guidance for energy-saving and carbon-reduction initiatives in these key industries; companies in these sectors must carry out such reforms within the specified time frames to meet the relevant requirements. Meanwhile, the Action Plan stipulates that relevant standards will be continuously improved and updated in light of actual circumstances, so as to ensure that the guiding and constraining role of the standards is fully exerted at all times. III. The petrochemical industry needs to take proactive actions to carry out energy-saving and carbon-reduction reforms, improve its level of green and low-carbon development, and enhance corporate competitiveness. Petrochemical enterprises are the main responsible parties for such reforms, as well as those that benefit from reduced energy consumption and carbon emission costs; they should regard these reforms as an important opportunity to promote high-quality development and boost their competitiveness. First, it is necessary to conduct energy audits and carbon emission calculations in order to accurately understand one’s own energy consumption and carbon emission levels. A comprehensive and systematic assessment of energy savings and carbon reduction efforts should be carried out, with an analysis of the main processes, key equipment, as well as the areas where energy is consumed and carbon emissions occur. This will enable one to have a clear understanding of the situation and have solid data at hand, allowing for the development of practical plans for energy savings and carbon reduction reforms, with detailed specifications regarding the content of these reforms, the implementation methods, and the time frames involved ； Secondly, it is necessary to take into account one’s own actual situation and make full use of various support policies such as government investment, green credit and transition finance, as well as contract energy management. Focusing on the application of energy-saving and carbon-reduction technologies, the upgrading of energy-consuming equipment, and the optimization and improvement of the overall energy systems in enterprises and industrial parks, efforts should be accelerated to carry out reforms and upgrades. Industry associations in the petrochemical sector serve as forces that drive energy-saving and carbon-reduction reforms within the industry, and they also act as a bridge between enterprises and the government. Relevant industry associations have the responsibility to actively promote energy-saving and carbon-reduction reforms within their respective sectors. They should carry out services related to such reforms through various means, including policy promotion, the development and revision of standards, the dissemination of advanced technologies and equipment, as well as the identification and sharing of successful case studies ； At the same time, in line with its functional role of \"serving **, serving society, serving the public, and serving the industry,\" it should actively innovate service models and improve service quality, providing petrochemical enterprises with high-standard services such as energy audits, carbon emission statistics, calculation, and verification, diagnostics for energy conservation and carbon reduction, selection of energy-saving and carbon-reduction technologies, as well as training and capacity building. Overall, the Action Plan outlines the general requirements for carrying out energy-saving and carbon-reduction reforms under the new circumstances, giving these reforms a more prominent role. It promotes the upgrading of key sectors such as oil refining, ethylene production, ammonia synthesis, and methanol production, thereby providing effective guidance for all relevant parties to carry out energy-saving and carbon-reduction efforts at a higher level and with better quality. This helps to improve the efficiency of energy and resource utilization, reduce carbon emissions at the source, and plays an important role in achieving carbon peak and carbon neutrality as well as accelerating the comprehensive green transformation of economic and social development. (Ling Yiqun, Member of the Party Committee and Vice President of the China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Federation) ； Li Yongliang (Director of the Science, Technology and Equipment Department, China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Federation)