Development directions and technical pathways for modern coal chemical industry in context of new energy system

Drawing on strategic research projects of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, national energy policy documents, publicly available industry statistics, and information on representative projects, the policy logic and evolving connotations of China’s energy system are systematically reviewed, from a stable, economical, clean, and secure energy supply system, through a clean, low-carbon, secure, and efficient modern energy system, to a new energy system characterized by security and efficiency, clean and low-carbon development, multi-dimensional coordination and collaboration, and intelligence and inclusiveness. The strategic role of the modern coal chemical industry is assessed in terms of energy security, feedstock substitution, industrial-chain resilience, and low-carbon transition. The results show that China has established a relatively complete industrial base and an independently developed technology system for the modern coal chemical industry. Major routes, including direct and indirect coal liquefaction, coal-to-natural gas, coal-to-ethylene glycol, and coal-to-olefins, have achieved commercial operation. In 2025, these major routes produced approximately 36 million tonnes of products and converted approximately 130 million tonnes of standard coal, indicating that the industry has progressed from demonstration and exploration to a stage of coordinated scale-up, high-end development, and low-carbon transition. Nevertheless, major constraints remain, including high carbon-emission intensity, severe water-resource constraints, intensifying homogeneous competition in basic products, and insufficient alignment between project siting and ecological carrying capacity. During the 15th Five-Year Plan period and over the medium to long term, development should not continue to rely primarily on capacity expansion. Instead, clean and efficient coal conversion should provide the foundation for coordinated advances in the iterative upgrading of key clean and low-carbon technologies, green hydrogen coupling and multi-energy complementarity, differentiated high-end products, intelligent process control, park-level coordinated energy-carbon-water optimization, and life-cycle carbon- and water-footprint management. These measures would support a modern industrial system that balances energy security, industrial-chain security, economic viability, and China’s carbon-peaking and carbon-neutrality goals.