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A preliminary review shows that as of now, 23 provinces (regions and municipalities), including Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, Shanxi, Shandong, and others, have successively released proposals for the 15th Five-Year Plan. A review of these documents shows that all regions attach great importance to the development of a \"new energy system,\" and natural gas, as a clean, low-carbon, flexible, and efficient energy source, sees its strategic significance emphasized in numerous plans. Overall, under the dual goals of energy security and low-carbon transition, natural gas will continue to play the role of a \"strategic energy source\" that serves as a stable foundation, a flexible regulator, and a key link. Over the next five years, its development path will be advanced steadily along three dimensions: strengthening policy orientation, building a robust infrastructure network, and exploring diverse consumer markets. The key role serves as a basis for consensus. In their analysis, journalists noted that the 23 provincial planning proposals led to a clear policy consensus: in an era where total energy consumption continues to rise alongside the goal of a low-carbon transition, natural gas plays an indispensable \"linking\" role in connecting traditional energy systems with future new energy systems. A common approach suggested in these plans is that, unlike the requirement to reach a peak in coal and oil consumption, no similar ceiling has been set for natural gas consumption. Such a decision is based on multiple practical considerations. Technically, natural gas power generation possesses excellent peak-shaving capabilities, enabling it to effectively compensate for the output fluctuations of intermittent renewable energy sources such as wind and solar power, thereby ensuring grid stability. On an economic level, the changes in the supply and demand dynamics of the international natural gas market have created more favorable conditions for bringing in more low-cost resources. In terms of energy security, the continuous increase in domestic natural gas production and import capacity together strengthen the foundation for supply security. Wu Mouyuan, deputy director of the Economic and Technical Research Institute of China National Petroleum Corporation, once said that over the next five years, fossil fuels and renewable energy sources will be integrated to ensure a healthy, stable, and resilient energy system as a whole ； Clean energy continues to experience rapid growth ； Over 90% of renewable energy needs to be utilized in the form of electricity, and the electrification of all end-use energy consumption will also be a major direction for transformation in the future. Continued efforts are being made to develop a unified national network. The realization of natural gas’s strategic importance relies heavily on the improvement of infrastructure. Recent provincial-level plans and related **policies all point toward a more efficient, flexible, and interconnected \"national network.\" **The newly revised \"Administrative Measures for the Planning, Construction, and Operation of Oil and Gas Infrastructure\" by the National Development and Reform Commission, which will come into effect in 2026, aims primarily at establishing a \"national network.\" This approach aims to enhance the consistency of planning, requiring that key projects such as inter-provincial pipelines be coordinated at the **level in order to avoid efficiency barriers resulting from separate planning at the local level, while also strengthening responsibilities for gas storage and peak-shaving. **Zhang Yuqing, former deputy director of the Energy Administration and a distinguished professor at Dalian Advanced Management Institute in China, pointed out that China needs to increase its storage capacity by building underground gas storage facilities and large-scale LNG tanks; it can also draw on the experience of the Netherlands to explore the establishment of natural gas production capacity reserves. At the provincial level, the “capillaries” of infrastructure are expanding at an accelerated pace. For example, Guizhou Province has explicitly outlined in its plans the implementation of a campaign to ensure natural gas access in every county. The coastal provinces continue to advance the development, expansion, and upgrading of liquefied natural gas (LNG) receiving stations in order to enhance their capacity for receiving and storing resources. The coordinated development of main pipeline networks, regional branch lines, gas storage facilities, and intake channels is systematically enhancing the country’s capacity for the coordinated allocation and secure supply of natural gas resources. The potential for application is entering a period of full realization. According to the \"Report on the Development Achievements of China’s Oil and Gas Industry during the 14th Five-Year Plan Period,\" with the rapid development of artificial intelligence and new industries with high energy consumption, China’s electricity demand is expected to exceed 20 trillion kilowatt-hours by 2060, doubling the level seen in 2025 ； The electrification rate of terminals will reach 62%, increasing by 0.9 percentage points per year on average. Gas power generation is recognized as one of the key areas for future consumption growth, and it will provide flexible regulation capabilities for new power systems. Especially in regions where the share of renewable energy capacity is increasing rapidly, installing gas-fired peak-shaving units that can be started and stopped flexibly has become a practical solution to ensure real-time balance in the power system. Meanwhile, as clean alternatives in the transportation sector continue to gain momentum, the conversion of ships from oil to gas is also accelerating. Currently, its cost-effectiveness and emission reduction benefits have been verified in some waterways. Some companies have already begun to take on large-scale orders for the conversion of inland vessels to LNG propulsion. Furthermore, the synergy between the natural gas and hydrogen industries will also become an important trend. Natural gas pipeline networks are considered a potential infrastructure for the large-scale transport of hydrogen in the future, and natural gas itself is also an important raw material for the large-scale production of \"blue hydrogen\". In practice, the pathways for the integrated development of the natural gas industry chain and hydrogen energy are continually expanding, providing potential routes for the long-term transformation of the natural gas sector. Despite ongoing challenges such as costs and coverage in certain areas, thanks to clear policy guidance and continuous market investment, the crucial role of natural gas in the development of China’s new energy system is now being fully realized.