September 2, 2026 (InvestinChina.asia) — China’s National Energy Administration (NEA) on Monday convened a high-level work deployment conference in Beijing to lay out sweeping tasks for building a “new-type power grid,” signaling that the country’s grid modernization has shifted from blueprint to full-scale execution.
NEA Secretary of the Party Leadership Group and Administrator Wang Hongzhi attended the meeting and delivered a keynote address. The conference systematically reviewed China’s grid development achievements, assessed new requirements under evolving conditions, and issued comprehensive directives for the construction of a next-generation grid.
The NEA stressed that the grid is a critical national network infrastructure bearing directly on economic and social development as well as energy security. Since the 18th Party Congress, China’s grid has achieved leapfrog development under the strong leadership of the Party Central Committee, with continuously improving infrastructure, markedly upgraded service levels, and steadily accumulating technological advantages.
The Administration projected that during the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026–2030), China’s electricity demand will maintain an average annual growth of around 5%. The share of new energy in the power mix will rise further, demand from high-end industries for green, high-quality electricity will grow steadily, and new business models and formats will emerge at accelerating pace — all while competition over core technologies intensifies, placing significantly higher demands on new-type grid construction.
Characterizing new-type grid construction as a profound transformation spanning new architecture, new technologies, and new services, the NEA outlined four priority thrusts:
First, consolidating infrastructure strengths. China will build a new “transmission-distribution-microgrid coordinated” grid architecture that enhances the safety and stability of bulk power networks, fully leverages distribution grids as public platforms, and promotes flexible, diversified interaction across smart microgrids.
Second, harnessing innovation leadership. The country will accelerate R&D and deployment of next-generation grid technologies including “AI+,” flexible grid-forming, intelligent dispatch and control, and long-duration energy storage, thereby developing new quality productive forces.
Third, strengthening multi-dimensional support. Grid services will be upgraded to accommodate new formats such as efficient grid integration and consumption of new energy, high-quality power supply, and computing-power-electricity coordination, better serving industrial development and the needs of the people.
Fourth, holding the bottom line on safe operation. China will ensure the secure and stable operation of bulk power grids, tighten engineering safety and quality management, enhance disaster prevention and emergency response capabilities, and build greater resilience into the system.
The NEA emphasized that new-type grid construction sits at the nexus of upstream renewable generation projects and downstream industrial, commercial, and residential electricity users. With strong ripple effects and immense investment scale, it serves as a pivotal pillar for both near-term investment stimulus and long-term structural adjustment.
To drive implementation, the Administration set out three concrete actions:
Accelerate approval and construction of major grid projects such as transmission corridors, with grid enterprises advancing work with lean management and local energy authorities expediting supporting approvals; conduct overall top-level coordination of new-type grid construction, with provincial energy authorities compiling project lists and task sheets and guiding local grid companies to scale up investment in intra-provincial backbone and distribution grid works; and intensify policy support, with the NEA working alongside relevant ministries and local authorities through regular monitoring, scheduling, and liaison mechanisms to resolve major implementation issues.
Notably, the NEA explicitly expressed support for private enterprises to actively invest in new-type grid construction, sharing in the new opportunities and dividends of the transition.
The meeting comes against the backdrop of unprecedented investment commitments. According to NEA figures, total fixed-asset investment in China’s power grid sector is expected to surpass 5 trillion yuan (approximately US$700 billion) during the 15th Five-Year Plan period — up more than 80% from the previous five years. The two dominant utilities alone, State Grid Corporation of China and China Southern Power Grid, are projected to invest nearly 5 trillion yuan combined, while the broader ripple effect across upstream and downstream industries is estimated to exceed 10 trillion yuan.
The deployment also aligns with the broader “six networks” strategy recently advanced by the Party Central Committee and the State Council, which encompasses water networks, new-type power grids, computing-power networks, next-generation communications networks, urban underground pipeline networks, and logistics networks. The NEA’s 15th Five-Year Plan for new-type power system construction, issued earlier this year, sets a target of initially establishing a new-type power system by 2030, with non-fossil energy generating 50% of total electricity, wind and solar capacity exceeding 2.8 billion kilowatts, and west-to-east power transmission capacity surpassing 420 gigawatts.
At the conference, seven organizations delivered exchange speeches: State Grid Corporation of China, China Southern Power Grid, Inner Mongolia Power Group, the Energy Bureaus of Sichuan and Zhejiang provinces, the Southern Energy Regulatory Bureau, and the China International Engineering Consulting Corporation. The meeting was attended by representatives from a wide range of stakeholders, including the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministries of Industry and Information Technology, Natural Resources, Ecology and Environment, Housing and Urban-Rural Development, Transport, Water Resources, Agriculture and Rural Affairs, the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, the National Forestry and Grassland Administration, and the National Cultural Heritage Administration; energy authorities from all provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities; NEA dispatched agencies; relevant energy enterprises; central communications enterprises; research institutions; and industry associations.
The comprehensive gathering underscores the cross-sectoral, cross-regional, and cross-ministerial coordination required to deliver on what the NEA describes as a “profound transformation” of China’s electrical backbone — one that will reshape how the world’s second-largest economy generates, transmits, consumes, and pays for its power over the coming decade.