China's potential as a key biomass market in Asia hinges on the review of regulations that ban the import of solid waste into the country. The country has around 46GW of installed biomass power capacity.
Standards and definitions for biomass fuel must be established before China can begin importing shipments into the country, executive deputy secretary-general at Biomass Energy Industry Promotion Association Liu Hongrong said on the sidelines of the Argus Biomass Asia Conference 2026.
Could you share an overview of current biomass consumption in China?
Currently, China's biomass consumption is already at an enormous scale. By the end of 2024, our installed capacity for biomass power generation hit 45.99 GW, and biomass-generated electricity output stood at 208.3 kWh. These make up the bulk of biomass energy consumption in China. In non-power sectors, biomass is also used for clean heating, biomethane and bio-liquid fuel. For these applications, the heat supply from biomass is approximately 489mn GJ, and biomethane output has reached 480mn m³. These are also the primary channels for biomass utilisation in non-power fields.
What are the main types of biomass fuels utilised for power generation in the country? Are there any new emerging types of biomass?
The power generation sector mainly relies on agricultural and forestry waste, municipal solid waste, and biogas or biomethane. From what I can see currently, there have not been any new types of biomass emerging yet. But traditional biomass feedstocks are undergoing continuous upgrading and development. For instance, loose agricultural and forestry residues are being processed into pellet fuels for utilisation.
Has there been any progress on updating existing regulations to allow for the import of biomass into China?
When it comes to biomass imports, China's laws are very clear on this — there is an outright ban on solid waste imports. Thus, any possibility of opening biomass imports must be based on clearly defining these products as renewable resources or environmentally friendly fuels, rather than solid waste.
Currently, in line with the Implementation Opinions on Expanding Green Trade issued by China's commerce ministry in 2025, we can see that the policy sphere has signalled its encouragement for the import of high-quality renewable resources. I believe the top priority before any such feedstock imports can proceed is to build a standardised system for compliant biomass feedstocks — only then can we make real progress on biomass imports in China.
What is your view on discussions between Russia and China on lifting pellet import restrictions?
The discussions between China and Russia are exactly a concrete practical case of the aforementioned policy shift.
The core significance lies in verifying whether we can successfully classify biomass pellets as environmentally friendly fuels by establishing mutually recognised product standards, and in turn circumvent the solid waste import ban. Right now, what we've observed is not that biomass imports have been opened, but that the key procedures for setting these standards have already been launched. Any future progress will be predicated on the official approval and implementation of these product standards — that is the defining precursor for all subsequent developments.
Do you see any potential for China to become a major exporter of biomass to other markets?
China's potential to become a major biomass fuel exporter lies in high value-added sustainable biofuels, like sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and biomethanol. This potential is closely tied to innovations in trade policy.
The key bottleneck right now is our import and export policy. These green products fall under the regulatory regime for refined oil exports, they can't be separately categorised because we lack independent tariff codes for them. But breakthroughs are already taking place. SAF has achieved compliant exports via the "white list" system, and it has been assigned its own exclusive tariff code starting in 2026. In contrast, biomethanol exports still need to resolve the issue of securing an independent tariff code.
So, this process is in essence an innovation in the rules of green trade. The experience of SAF here shows that with precise policy design, China is moving from being a potential supplier to a key actual provider of green fuels for the global market.
What will be needed for biomass to become a significant source of energy in China?
To make biomass energy an important energy source for China, I believe the core is to shift from a "waste disposal" model to a "strategic green energy industry". We can work towards this goal in roughly five key areas.
1）Position upgrading: It needs to be clearly elevated from a role focused on solid waste utilisation to a strategic emerging industry. One that safeguards energy security and supports the dual carbon goals.
2）Driving force upgrading: The driving force for development should shift from relying on fiscal subsidies to leveraging market-based mechanisms. These include the carbon market, green power trading and zero-carbon energy certificates. This way, we can fully realise the green value of biomass energy.
3）Industrial upgrading: We need to overcome key bottlenecks. Such as the high costs of biomass feedstock collection, transportation and storage, and the low economic efficiency of conversion technologies. We should build an efficient and stable industrial supply chain, and shift from a single output of power and heat generation to diversified high value-added outputs. These outputs cover power, heat, gas, fuels and materials.
4）Application scenario upgrading: Application scenarios should expand beyond traditional power generation and heating. We need to focus on expanding into hard-to-electrify transportation and industrial sectors, like SAF and green methanol. This will enable the large-scale substitution of fossil fuels.
5）Regulatory upgrading: We need to establish an independent and transparent system of product standards, accounting, certification and trade rules. This addresses the issue of green identity verification and allows biomass energy to integrate into the domestic and international mainstream markets.
In summary, the fundamental prerequisite is to drive the biomass energy industry to complete a profound transformation from a "waste disposal terminal" to a "modern industry". When the five pillars of resources, policies, technologies, markets and standards are established in a co-ordinated manner, its status as an important energy source will be naturally consolidated.
