China Begins Restricting Domestic HFC Production Capacity

January 17, 2022

China has begun restricting companies from expanding HFC production capacity, according to an article published on January 4 on the China Global Television Network (CGTN) website.

The Chinese Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE) has “barred companies from expanding HFC production capacity from January 1,” the article states.

Enterprises that violate the new regulations will be liable to punishment,” said CGTN.

The restrictions are a part of China’s effort to strengthen control over the use, production, import and export of HFCs, per the Kigali Amedement to the Montreal Protocol. In June of last year, China ratified the Kigali Amendment, which entered into force in September.

In a press conference held by the ministry in July, Liu Youbin, an MEE spokesman, outlined the four main steps the government was taking toward strengthening control.

The first step is to “incorporate HFC control into the national legal system,” Liu explained. The second step is to “incorporate the HFC phase-down plan into the China’s Country Program for Ozone Depleting Substances [ODS] Phase-out.” The third step is to “establish and implement an HFC import and export licensing system. The fourth step is to “develop and promulgate policy measures on HFC-23 control.”

In a subsequent press conference held by the ministry in October, Liu said that in 2021, the MEE had “continued to organize special ODS law enforcement inspections nationwide” and that an “HFC import and export licensing system [had] been officially implemented” as of November 1.