4. Supporting Energy Development in Rural and Poor Areas

China has implemented the strategy of rural revitalization to improve energy security in rural areas, so that the residents can have a better sense of gain, happiness and security.

Improving rural energy infrastructure. Making electricity accessible to all is a basic condition for building a moderately prosperous society in all respects. China implemented a three-year action plan to ensure power access for people without electricity, and had achieved this goal by the end of 2015. China attaches great importance to the renovation and upgrading of the rural power grid and makes great efforts to strengthen the weak links in the process. It has carried out targeted programs for renovating and upgrading power grid in small towns and central villages, connecting motor-pumped wells in rural plain areas to the grid, and supplying poor villages with electricity for industrial and commercial use. Since 2018, it has been focusing on upgrading the power grid in severely impoverished areas and border villages. China has built natural gas branch pipelines and infrastructure to expand the coverage of the pipeline network. To improve energy infrastructure in rural areas, it has built supply outlets for liquefied natural gas, compressed natural gas, and liquefied petroleum gas in areas not covered by natural gas pipelines, and developed renewable energy sources adapted to local conditions.

Carrying out targeted poverty alleviation through energy projects. Energy is a driving force for economic development, and also an important impetus for poverty alleviation. China makes sound plans for the exploitation of energy resources in poor areas, introducing major energy projects in these areas to improve their capability to sustain themselves, thus adding new momentum to the local economy. It has given priority to energy development projects in old revolutionary bases, ethnic minority areas, border areas and poor areas, and built power transmission bases for sending surplus clean electricity to other parts of China, contributing significantly to local economic growth. In developing hydropower, China has followed a sustainable development path by ensuring smooth relocation and resettlement of residents, and by making sure those involved have the means to better themselves, so that the poor share more of the benefits of resource development. China has also increased financial input and policy support for clean energy such as biomass, wind power, solar power, and small hydropower stations in poverty-stricken areas. It has adopted various models integrating solar PV power and agriculture to reduce poverty, and built thousands of "sunshine banks" in poor rural areas.

Using clean energy for heating in rural areas in north China. Winter heating is of great importance in northern China. To ensure that the residents stay warm in winter while reducing air pollution, China has launched clean heating programs in rural areas in accordance with local conditions. In this new scheme enterprises assume the main responsibility and governments provide support to ensure affordable heating for the people. China has been steadily replacing coal with electricity and natural gas for centralized heating, and supported the application of clean biomass fuel, geothermal energy and solar energy in heating, as well as the use of heat pumps. At the end of 2019, the rate of clean-energy heating in the rural areas of north China was about 31 percent, up 21.6 percentage points from 2016. By 2019, about 23 million households in rural areas in northern China had replaced bulk coal with clean energy, including 18 million households in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, its surrounding areas and the Fenhe-Weihe River Plain.

V. Leveraging the Role of Innovation as the Primary Driver of Development

China has seized the opportunities presented by the new round of scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation. In the energy sector, it has implemented a strategy of innovation-driven development to increase its capacity for scientific and technological innovation and address major issues and challenges, such as energy resource constraints, environmental protection, and climate change, through advances in technology.

1. Improving Top Level Design for Energy Policies Relating to Scientific and Technological Innovation

China has made energy a vital part of its innovation-driven development strategy, and given more prominence to innovation in energy science and technology. Modern energy technology that is safe, clean and of high efficiency is a key strategic sector and a national priority in the country's "Outline of Innovation-driven Development Strategy". Accordingly, China has drawn blueprints for sci-tech innovation in energy and resources, made strategic plans for scientific and technological development of the resources and energy industry till 2035, and proposed major measures and tasks for innovation in energy science and technology. These are all aimed to enhance the role of scientific and technological innovation in driving and underpinning the energy sector.

By making plans for technological innovation in energy and creating the "Innovation Action Plan of Energy Technological Revolution (2016-2030)", China has charted the roadmap and identified its priorities. Through deeper reform, China is establishing an energy science and technology system in which technological innovation is directed by the government and led by the market, and engages the whole of society, with enterprises playing a major role and all stakeholders coordinating with each other. At the same time China has increased investment in scientific and technological innovation in key energy fields and emerging energy industries, stepped up efforts to cultivate professionals in these areas, and endeavored to help all entities involved to improve their capacity for innovation.