On 4 September 2026, seven Chinese government bodies jointly issued the Implementation Plan for Promoting the Coordinated Digital and Green Transformation (2026–2030). The plan was released by the Office of the Central Cyberspace Affairs Commission together with the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE), Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development (MOHURD), Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs (MARA), and Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM).
The plan establishes a cross-sector framework for integrating digital technologies, particularly artificial intelligence (AI), big data, the Internet of Things (IoT), 5G, and digital twins, with China’s green and low-carbon transformation during the 15th Five-Year Plan period. It pursues two complementary objectives: using digital technologies to accelerate green transformation while reducing the energy and environmental footprint of the digital economy itself.
By 2030, China aims to significantly improve the cost and energy efficiency of AI and digital infrastructure and expand their application in green technology innovation and industrial upgrading. Digital and green transformation is to be advanced across agriculture, manufacturing, trade, consumption, urban management, and environmental governance.
Four directions for digital-green transformation
The plan sets out 14 priority tasks grouped into four areas:
- Integrating digital and green technologies: developing more energy-efficient AI technologies while using AI to accelerate innovation in green and low-carbon technologies.
- Reducing the energy footprint of the digital economy: improving energy efficiency in computing infrastructure, telecom base stations, and digital enterprises, while increasing the use of renewable electricity.
- Expanding digital-green applications: promoting integrated digital and green transformation in agriculture, manufacturing, trade, consumption, urban management, and environmental governance.
- Strengthening enabling systems: improving standards and the policy environment, developing digital carbon-management systems, and expanding international cooperation.
A particular focus is AI. The plan calls for more energy-efficient model architectures, low-power computing, improved data storage and transmission, and better integration of computing infrastructure with renewable energy. At the same time, datasets on greenhouse gases, environmental monitoring, energy consumption, carbon emissions, and product carbon footprints are to be integrated to support AI applications for green and low-carbon innovation.
Smart and green agriculture
For agriculture, the plan links digitalization explicitly with resource efficiency and environmental sustainability. Agricultural machinery is to undergo simultaneous intelligent and green upgrading, with greater development and deployment of high-end smart machinery and equipment adapted to hilly and mountainous areas.
The plan also calls for wider adoption of precision fertilization, pesticide application, seeding, and feeding equipment, as well as the development of low-emission agricultural machinery, including through electrification. IoT-based soil-moisture monitoring and intelligent water-saving irrigation are to support greener crop production and higher yields.
In livestock production, the plan promotes digital farms equipped with intelligent ventilation and temperature control, environmental sensing, precision feeding, and emissions-treatment systems.
Taken together, these measures point toward an increasingly integrated approach to smart and green agriculture, in which digital technologies, sensors, precision machinery, and automation are expected to improve productivity while reducing resource use and environmental pressures.
Digital carbon management expands
Beyond agriculture, the plan places considerable emphasis on digital carbon management. Industrial companies and industrial parks are encouraged to establish digital energy and carbon-management centers integrating energy-efficiency monitoring, carbon budgeting, carbon-footprint accounting, and supply-chain carbon management.
At the national level, China plans to further develop its carbon-market management infrastructure, explore an AI foundation model for the national carbon market, and strengthen databases for greenhouse-gas emission factors and product carbon footprints. Carbon-footprint labeling, certification, information disclosure, and digital management systems are also to be further developed.
Carbon footprints enter trade policy
For trade, the plan promotes digital technologies ranging from blockchain-based shipping and trade systems to electronic bills of lading, warehouse receipts, and trade finance.
Of particular relevance to international companies, Chinese foreign-trade enterprises are encouraged to use digital tools for product carbon-footprint accounting and supply-chain carbon-footprint assessment. The stated objective is to strengthen the international competitiveness of green and low-carbon products. China also plans to develop guidance for imports and exports of green services and encourage greater trade in green products and services.
International cooperation remains part of the strategy
The plan calls for cooperation on digital and green transformation through international frameworks including the World Trade Organization (WTO), Belt and Road Initiative, G20, BRICS, Shanghai Cooperation Organization, Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), and World Internet Conference. It also calls for greater Chinese participation in relevant international standards and support for Chinese companies expanding internationally.
Overall, the plan establishes digital-green integration as a cross-sector development priority for 2026–2030. For agriculture and food-sector stakeholders, it signals growing policy support for smart and low-emission agricultural machinery, including electrification, precision farming, digital livestock management, resource-efficient production, and increasingly sophisticated carbon-footprint systems. These developments could also create new areas for international technology and business cooperation.
Source
Office of the Central Cyberspace Affairs Commission of China. (2026, September 4). 促进数字化绿色化协同转型发展实施方案（2026–2030年） [Implementation Plan for Promoting the Coordinated Digital and Green Transformation (2026–2030)] [In Chinese]. China Cyberspace Administration website.
