Understanding "Green Factory" in One Article: Up to 600,000 RMB in Subsidies

China's first national standard in the field of green factories, "General Rules for Green Factory Evaluation" (GB/T36132-2018), was officially implemented on December 1, 2018.

In addition, when organizing the application for green factories, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology also issued the "Green Factory Evaluation Requirements," which specifically explains the evaluation index framework, evaluation basis, evaluation methods, and evaluation index requirements. Accelerating the construction of green factories with characteristics such as land intensive use, clean production, waste resource utilization, and low-carbon energy is the main form of future enterprise development.

"Green Factory" is an honorary title, divided into three levels: national, provincial, and municipal. It is also an award for industrial enterprises that are at the leading level in the industry in terms of energy conservation, environmental protection, and green development. After the assessment, there are financial rewards or policy support, which can promote the green, low-carbon, and healthy development of enterprises.

 

What is a Green Factory?

 

A green factory is a manufacturing production unit and the main body for implementing green manufacturing. It is a core supporting module of the green manufacturing system, focusing on the green aspects of the production process. This involves constructing and renovating factories using green building technologies, preserving spaces for renewable resource applications and designing appropriate loads, rationally arranging energy and material flow paths, promoting green design and procurement, developing and producing green products, selecting advanced and applicable green manufacturing production technologies and efficient end-of-pipe treatment equipment, eliminating outdated equipment, establishing resource recycling and recovery mechanisms, promoting the optimization of energy utilization structures, and minimizing resource consumption, harmful raw materials, and the production and emission of pollutants throughout the entire process from raw materials entering the factory to product recycling and disposal, thereby achieving green development of the factory. Establishing green factories, as a key link in building a green factory system, is a key task in implementing the green factory project and an important way to promote the structural optimization and improvement of efficiency in various industrial sectors. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has been conducting the selection of "National Green Factories" since 2017.

 

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology announced the 2022 green manufacturing list, with 874 green factories.

 

 

Policy Basis:

 

 

 

Suitable Enterprises for Application:

The core word of a green factory is "factory." The prerequisite for applying for a green factory is that it is a manufacturing factory registered in China with actual production processes such as processing, manufacturing, and assembly.

Enterprises in emerging industries such as new energy and new materials are more likely to apply for green factories. Currently, the country encourages enterprises in the industrial chains of new energy, biomedicine, new materials, high-end equipment, integrated circuits, automobiles and new energy vehicles, traditional Chinese medicine, and aerospace to accelerate the creation of green factories.

 

 

Application Process for Green Factories
 

1. Establish a green factory and conduct self-evaluation. The factory compares itself against the evaluation indicators for green factories to see if it meets the relevant requirements. After the creation work is completed, complete the green factory self-evaluation report according to the "Green Factory Self-Evaluation Report Template" issued by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

 

2. Select an authoritative institution to conduct on-site audits and evaluations of the third-party green factory self-evaluation report, and complete the green factory third-party evaluation report according to the evaluation results in the "Green Factory Third-Party Evaluation Report Template" issued by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

 

3. Relevant competent authorities should conduct review, selection, and reporting. This part of the work does not require enterprise participation. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology publishes a recommended list based on the "Green Factory Self-Evaluation Report" and the "Green Factory Third-Party Evaluation Report." Submit to the county, city, province, and national Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, and finally organize experts to review the national green factories.

 

Flowchart is as follows:

 

 

Benefits of Green Factory Certification for Enterprises

 

1. Qualification Certification: Selected as a national green factory and obtaining a green factory license, enhancing the image, reputation, and influence of the green demonstration enterprise; it can serve as an environmental protection umbrella for the enterprise, enjoying the benefits of exemption from environmental protection inspections, unrestricted production in winter, etc.;

2. Financial Rewards: Enjoying corresponding policy support from the national, provincial, and municipal levels, with final rewards potentially reaching millions of RMB;

3. Brand Image: Enhancing the image, reputation, and influence of the green demonstration enterprise;

4. Management Level: Helping to improve the enterprise's management level of green manufacturing and achieving green and sustainable development.

 

On the premise of product function, quality, and occupational health and safety of personnel during the green factory manufacturing process, the green factory should introduce the concept of the life cycle, prioritize green technologies, techniques, and equipment, and meet the comprehensive evaluation requirements of infrastructure, management system, energy and resource investment, commodities, environmental emissions, and performance.

 

What are the bonus points for applying for a green factory?

 

The main bonus points for applying for a green factory include the following certifications and reports:

1. ISO 50001 Energy Management System Certification

2. ISO 9001 Quality Management System Certification

3. ISO 14001 Environmental Management System Certification

4. ISO 45001 Occupational Health and Safety Management System Certification

5. ISO 14064 Greenhouse Gas Verification Report

6. ISO 14067 Product Carbon Footprint Report

7. HACCP Report on Harmful Substance Control Measures and Testing for Products

 

Application Requirements for Green Factory Projects

 

Annual Sales Revenue Requirements Enterprises with an output value of over 200 million RMB have a high chance of being selected as provincial green factories, while those with an output value of over 1 billion RMB have a high chance of being selected as national green factories; enterprises using new energy and renewable energy and having environmentally friendly emissions; enterprises with a good foundation in energy management systems.

Credit Requirements: No relevant negative records in the past three years: not operating normally; safety (including cybersecurity, data security), quality, environmental pollution accidents, tax evasion, and other illegal and irregular behaviors (based on "Credit China" and the "National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System"); dynamically adjusted out of the green manufacturing list; found to have serious problems in the relevant inspection work of the State Council and relevant departments; included in the industrial energy conservation supervision and rectification list and not completed rectification as required; dishonest executor, etc.

 

 

Relevant Support:

✔ Financial Rewards: In April 2023, the Tianjin Municipal People's Government Office issued the "Several Policy Measures to Promote the High-Quality Development of Manufacturing in Tianjin" (津政办规〔2023〕4号), which clearly states support for the construction of a green manufacturing system and provides a maximum reward of 600,000 RMB for benchmark units of industrial energy conservation and green development.

 

✔ Support for Key Projects: For green manufacturing projects that receive special support for national high-quality development, a reward of up to 5 million RMB will be given, equivalent to 20% of the total amount awarded by the state.

✔ Green Credit: Enterprises that have obtained the title of green manufacturing can apply for green credit from relevant financial institutions.

✔ Corporate Honors: Government Endorsement, Industry Benchmark

✔ IPO Advantages: Positive impact on prospective listed companies, increasing the success rate of listing.

✔ Supply Chain Requirements: Upstream requirements for downstream companies' green development.

 

Green Factory Park Subsidy Policy

 

Shenzhen

National-level awards shall not exceed 500,000 yuan, provincial-level awards shall not exceed 300,000 yuan, and municipal-level awards shall not exceed 200,000 yuan.

Longgang District : One-time rewards of 600,000 yuan, 400,000 yuan, and 300,000 yuan will be given at the national, provincial, and municipal levels respectively.

Longhua District : A one-time national-level reward of 500,000 yuan.

光明区/坪山区/南山区: For the publicized demonstration projects of green factories, green parks, and green supply chains, rewards of 500,000 yuan, 300,000 yuan, and 200,000 yuan will be given at the national, provincial, and municipal levels respectively.

 

Hunan Province

A one-time reward of 300,000 yuan will be given to enterprises that have obtained provincial-level green factories, green products, green parks, and green supply chain management. A one-time reward of 500,000 yuan will be given to enterprises that have obtained national-level green factories, green products, green parks, and green supply chain management.

 

Guangxi Province

A reward of 1 million yuan will be given for the first time obtaining a national-level green park, 500,000 yuan for a green factory, and 300,000 yuan for a green product or green supply chain. A reward of 500,000 yuan will be given for the first time obtaining an autonomous region-level green park, 300,000 yuan for a green factory, and 100,000 yuan for a green product or green supply chain.

 

(Subsidy requirements: Demonstration projects of green factories, green parks, and green supply chains that have passed the review and been publicized by the national or municipal authorities.)

 

 

Application Time

 

National level: July-August each year

Municipal level: Around November each year, subject to adjustment according to the annual arrangement

 

Qualification Maintenance

 

After being selected as a "green factory" at various levels, dynamic management must be implemented by logging into the Industrial Energy Conservation and Green Development Management Platform (https://green.miit.gov.cn, hereinafter referred to as the management platform). The dynamic monitoring system must be filled in annually, and those who fail the verification will be removed from the green manufacturing database. After filling in the information, national-level green factories can apply for an "enterprise green code".

 

 

Difference between Green Factory and Zero-Carbon Factory

 

The main difference between green factories and zero-carbon factories lies in their focus and implementation.

 

Green Factory:

Green factories focus on the greening of the production process , including aspects such as factory intensification, harmless raw materials, clean production, waste resource utilization, and low-carbon energy.

The evaluation standard for green factories is based on GB/T 36132-2018 "General Rules for Green Factory Evaluation", and is mainly assessed by the national, provincial, and municipal industrial and information technology departments. The assessment results are divided into three levels: national, provincial, and municipal. The assessment of green factories is mainly based on expert review, and enterprises that pass the assessment can obtain corresponding honors and rewards.

 

Zero-Carbon Factory:

The goal of a zero-carbon factory is to achieve zero total greenhouse gas emissions from production and services within a certain period (usually on an annual basis) through the application of energy-saving and emission-reduction technologies, the substitution of renewable energy, and the implementation of negative carbon technologies.

Zero-carbon factories not only focus on carbon emissions within the factory, but also include carbon emissions from the product supply chain (Scope 3 emissions). They offset remaining emissions through various methods to achieve carbon neutrality.

 

 

 

Evaluation Rules (Updated in the Eighth Batch):

From 2023 onwards, Applications will be implemented in a tiered cultivation system of "district-city-province-national" step-by-step applications , putting forward comprehensive and systematic requirements from six dimensions: factory infrastructure, management system, energy and resource input, products, environmental emissions, and performance, including six primary indicators and 25 secondary indicators. The detailed indicators for different industries vary. The specific evaluation standards are as follows: