As the largest developing country, with a population of over 1.4 billion, China faces major challenges across a range of important areas including economic development, improving the people's lives, pollution control, and eco-environmental protection. In order to meet its targets in response to climate change, China has risen to these challenges and formulated and implemented a variety of strategies, regulations, policies,standards, and actions.
1. Intensifying Efforts in Response to Climate Change
It will not be easy for China to achieve its new NDC tar-gets; it will take approximately 30 years of painstaking effort to transit from peak carbon emissions to achieving carbon neu-trality and the largest reduction in carbon dioxide emissions per unit of GDP （"carbon intensity"） in the world. Walking the talk, China has already begun to implement positive and effec-tive moves in its strategy to peak carbon emissions and achieve carbon neutrality.
Improving overall planning and coordination in re-sponse to climate change. The response to climate change covers a wide range of areas; therefore, to improve coordina-tion and pool strengths, China has set up a national leading group headed by Premier of the State Council and with officials from 30 ministries and commissions as members. Its remit is responding to climate change, conserving energy, and reducing emissions, and all provinces, autonomous regions, and munic-ipalities directly under the central government (PARMs） have set up corresponding groups. In April 2018, China adjusted the functions of relevant government departments, and put the newly established Ministry of Ecology and Environment in charge of responding to climate change, thus reinforcing the coordination between responding to climate change and protecting the eco-environment. In 2021, China set up a spe-cial leading group to guide and coordinate the work related to peaking carbon emissions and achieving carbon neutrality. All PARMs have established leading groups for peaking carbon emissions and achieving carbon neutrality, so as to strengthen the coordination of their efforts.
Incorporating the response to climate change into na-tional economic and social development plans. Starting from the 12th Five-year Plan period (2011-2015）, China has incorporated reducing carbon intensity into the outline of the plans for national economic and social development as binding targets, and defined key tasks, priority areas, and major pro-jects. China's Outline of the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025）for National Economic and Social Development and the Long-Range Objectives Through the Year 2035 sets a binding target of slashing carbon intensity by 18 percent from 2020 to 2025.All PARMs have taken on the response to climate change as an important part of the 14th Five-year Plan, and set themselves specific targets and tasks.
Establishing a mechanism of breaking down and meet-ing the targets for responding to climate change. To meet its targets, China has set tiered provincial-level carbon emission caps for its PARMs based on factors such as their development stage, resource endowment, strategic positioning, and eco-environmental protection. It has assessed the performance of the relevant governments in meeting the targets and fulfilling the responsibilities for controlling greenhouse gas emissions, and uses the results as an important reference for the comprehen-sive performance assessment and appraisal of officials holding principal posts and leadership teams in the PARMs, as well as for the appointment, reward, sanction, and removal of officials.PARM governments have also assessed the performance ofadministrative divisions at lower levels in meeting their targets and fulfilling their responsibilities for controlling greenhouse gas emissions, thus ensuring that the effort is coordinated and effective.
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