China to expand hydrogen use through pilots in five city clusters

China has approved four-year pilot programs for comprehensive hydrogen energy applications in five city clusters, according to a government circular made public Friday.

The programs will cover the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, and three cross-regional groups linking northeast China, including eastern Inner Mongolia, with the Yangtze River Delta, Xinjiang with the Chengdu-Chongqing twin-city economic circle, and the Yellow River bend with the Central Plains.

The circular, jointly released by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Finance and the National Development and Reform Commission, calls on participating cities to accelerate the implementation of four lists of priority tasks covering hydrogen technology and equipment development, industrial hydrogen projects, fuel cell vehicle promotion, and hydrogen refueling station construction.

Cities are also urged to strengthen industrial and supply chains, promote smooth domestic circulation and avoid local protectionism.

The circular also calls for better planning of major projects, stronger safety management, and timely assessment of the pilot programs' economic, social and environmental benefits.

The three departments will assess the pilot programs, with the results serving as the basis for allocating central government reward funds.

The funds must be disbursed promptly and used only to support hydrogen energy applications, helping lower hydrogen-use costs and pass the savings on to end users, according to the circular.

The initiative comes as China seeks to expand the use of cleaner energy in industry and transport.

Hydrogen produced using renewable electricity can help reduce carbon emissions, although high costs and challenges in storage and transportation remain obstacles to wider adoption.

China is already the world's largest producer and consumer of hydrogen, with output exceeding 39 million tonnes in 2025, according to official data.

Under a policy issued in March, China aims to have 100,000 fuel cell vehicles nationwide by 2030, while each city cluster can receive up to 1.6 billion yuan (about $238 million) in central government reward funds over the four-year pilot period.