Dual-Track Policy Framework Propels China's SAF Development
China is advancing SAF through synchronized demand-side targets and supply-side industrial support. On the demand side, binding aviation decarbonization goals were set in the *14th Five-Year Plan for Green Civil Aviation Development* (2021), requiring annual SAF consumption of ≥20,000 tonnes by 2025 (50,000 tonnes cumulatively). The 2024 Energy Conservation and Carbon Reduction Action Plan further designated SAF as a core solution. Practical implementation accelerated with a 12-flight SAF pilot in September 2024 and a cross-ministerial directive supporting demonstration projects in October 2024.
Supply-side policies focus on securing feedstocks, scaling production, and establishing standards. A November 2024 policy scrapped the 13% export tax rebate for used cooking oil (UCO), redirecting ~5 million tonnes of annual UCO output toward domestic SAF production to lower costs. Industrial scaling is backed by the Green Aviation Manufacturing Development Outline (2023), mandating a mature SAF supply chain by 2025, and the Renewable Energy Substitution Action (2024), promoting SAF as a petroleum substitute. Standardization progressed with CAAC's Sustainability Criteria for Aviation Alternative Fuels draft (2023), laying groundwork for China-specific certification.
A critical gap remains: China lacks a nationwide blending mandate (vs. EU's 2%-6%-70% framework). Yet leveraging advantages in UCO feedstock (utilization rate <10%) and state-owned enterprise (SOE)-led capacity (e.g., Sinopec's 100,000-tonne/year HEFA plant), China could adopt an "EU-style" mandate-subsidy model to accelerate commercialization and carve a niche in global aviation decarbonization.