China will ban the use of refrigerants in new cars with a GWP of greater than 150 beginning July 1, 2029, and will “encourage research and application of natural refrigerant alternatives in electric vehicle thermal systems,” according to a government document.
The regulations were shared in “China’s National Plan for Implementing the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer (2025–2030),” which was published in April 2025. The original document can be viewed here and in English here, with translation provided by Claude.
The regulation applies to M1 category vehicles, which are passenger cars with no more than eight seats (excluding the driver). The National Plan states that research will also be done on “incorporating requirements for automotive air-conditioning refrigerant use and leak control into the next phase of motor vehicle emission standards.”
China does not currently have a GWP restriction for refrigerants used in mobile air-conditioning (MAC) applications, with R134a currently dominating the market. R134a has a 100-year GWP of 1,530 and a 20-year GWP of 4,140 (IPCC AR6) and is a PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substance). R134a is the most popular refrigerant for passenger cars and trucks sold in China, with emissions from the refrigerant in the MAC sector reaching 20 million metric tons of CO2e annually, per the International Council on Clean Transportation.
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The EU MAC directive
China’s new regulation resembles the European Union’s MAC directive, which restricts the use of refrigerants with a GWP greater than 150 in all new cars. The directive came into force in two phases: manufacturers were no longer able to receive approval for new vehicle types using MAC systems with a GWP greater than 150 in 2011, with full enforcement for all new vehicles sold in the EU beginning in 2017.
HFO 1234yf became the dominant refrigerant in the MAC sector in the wake of the directive. Although it has a GWP of 1, R1234yf is a PFAS and could potentially be banned in the EU under the Universal Restriction Proposal, which is currently being discussed by the European Chemicals Agency.
Deviating from the path
The rise of R1234yf in China as a result of its new GWP restrictions on the MAC sector is far from guaranteed thanks to the rise of EVs, whose thermal management systems rely on efficient MAC systems to maximize range. Heat pumps using CO2 (R744) and propane (R290) have both been shown to offer excellent performance in EVs, with German automotive OEM ZF recently saying that its R290 thermal management system offered a range increase of up to 30% compared to an R1234yf-based system.
There were 11 million electric cars sold in China in 2024, nearly half the total of all new car sales, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). By 2030, the year after the MAC-sector GWP limit comes into force, the IEA forecasts that EVs will make up 80% of all new care sales in China.
This article has been updated with the correct 100-year and 20-year GWPs of R134a, per the IPCC’s Sixth Assessment Report, published in 2021, and with more detailed information regarding the phases of enforcement for the EU MAC Directive.
