An Overview of China’s Energy Labeling Policy Portfolio: China’s Contribution to Addressing the Global Goal of Sustainable Development

Abstract

As a part of China’s energy conservation and emission reduction policy system, the China Energy Label plays an important role in promoting energy-efficient technology progress and product sales. In this article, we comprehensively review China’s energy labeling policy portfolio, consisting of the Energy-Efficiency Label Management Approach, the financial subsidy, and “top runner” programs. To evaluate the effectiveness of the energy labeling policy portfolio, we further analyze the influence of the energy labeling policy portfolio on the electricity consumption of household appliances. According to our results, the China Energy Label played an active role in slowing the growth rate of residential electricity consumption during 2007–2010, but its effectiveness was not satisfactory in the period 2011–2012. The reasons and countermeasures are discussed herein to address this problem. Moreover, to further enhance the effectiveness of the China Energy Label, policy implications are proposed for long-term successful implementation.