“We have crossed the valley of death and have now entered a stage of normal development,” said Ouyang Minggao, academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, professor at Tsinghua University, and chairman of the International Hydrogen Fuel Cell Association, at the 2026 International Hydrogen Energy and Fuel Cell Vehicle Conference, which opened on June 10.

At present, hydrogen energy has been listed in the 15th Five-Year Plan as a future industry and a new economic growth driver. China’s hydrogen industry is moving from technology validation toward a critical stage of scaled development. How to reduce costs, improve efficiency, expand application scenarios, and build a sustainable industrial ecosystem has become the focus of the sector.

Under the theme “Opening a New Chapter for Hydrogen: Coordinated Development Across the Whole Chain to Foster Future Industries,” the 2026 International Hydrogen Energy and Fuel Cell Vehicle Conference was held in Kunshan, Jiangsu Province. Wan Gang, chairman of the China Association for Science and Technology; Ouyang Minggao, academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences; Zhang Jinhua, chairman of the China Society of Automotive Engineers; and other academicians, experts, and corporate representatives attended the event to discuss the high-quality development of the hydrogen industry.

After more than a decade of development, China’s hydrogen energy and fuel cell vehicle industry has entered the world’s leading ranks in vehicle production and sales, hydrogen refueling station numbers, and patent deployment. By the end of 2025, cumulative domestic fuel cell vehicle sales had reached 39,000 units, with more than 590 hydrogen refueling stations built. The cost of fuel cell systems has fallen from RMB 8,000–10,000 per kilowatt in earlier years to around RMB 3,000 per kilowatt. Key indicators such as the power density of core components have increased severalfold, while self-sufficiency in stacks, membrane electrodes, and other key links has continued to improve.

Ouyang Minggao noted in his report that China is leading the global renewable energy revolution, and that the next five years will be an important window for breakthroughs in hydrogen energy, energy storage, and intelligent technologies. He predicted that 2025 to 2030 will be a crucial window period, followed by an explosive growth phase after 2030.

However, crossing the “valley of death” does not mean the road ahead will be smooth. Zhang Jinhua, chairman of the China Society of Automotive Engineers, said the hydrogen vehicle industry is entering a more rational and pragmatic stage of development, with the most critical challenges being the reduction of hydrogen supply costs and the mismatch between supply and demand.

Zu Sijie, vice president and chief engineer of SAIC Motor, pointed out that China’s hydrogen resources vary greatly by region, with a prominent mismatch between supply in the west and demand in the east. Henan, Hebei, Sichuan, Chongqing, and other regions have abundant low-cost hydrogen sources but limited vehicle deployment, while some regions with strong demand face serious hydrogen shortages. The total number of hydrogen refueling stations remains insufficient and unevenly distributed, and 70 MPa high-pressure hydrogen stations account for less than 10% of the total. In some areas, hydrogen is still managed as a hazardous chemical, and complex approval procedures directly constrain the expansion of hydrogen refueling networks.

In terms of costs, taking a 49-ton hydrogen-powered heavy truck as an example, measured hydrogen consumption per 100 kilometers has fallen to 8.5 kilograms, while the average refueling price has dropped to RMB 30.42 per kilogram. In certain scenarios, operating costs are already lower than those of diesel vehicles. However, this advantage depends heavily on low hydrogen prices and toll exemptions in specific regions. Once outside these “greenhouse” conditions, the economic viability becomes fragile.

At the level of core technologies, the hydrogen industry still faces a tough battle. Lü Jian, chair professor at the City University of Hong Kong, noted that catalysts account for more than one-third of fuel cell costs. His team has developed a “Turing catalyst” that can reduce the use of precious metals per unit volume of hydrogen production to as low as one-quarter of that required by traditional catalysts, while significantly improving catalytic activity. The technology has completed small-scale testing and is now undergoing pilot testing. It is expected to reduce the overall cost of hydrogen production catalysts per unit volume by 70% compared with commercial Pt/C catalysts.

Ouyang Minggao said his team has developed a new-generation wide-temperature-range proton exchange membrane that can operate stably at 120°C, greatly reducing radiator volume and energy consumption. It has achieved 4,500 hours of continuous operation without failure at minus 28°C and under strong wind conditions on the plateau.

In hydrogen production and energy storage, hydrogen is positioned as the best option for long-duration, large-capacity energy storage. Ouyang Minggao’s team has built an integrated “wind-solar-hydrogen-storage-vehicle” demonstration project in Ordos, linking hydrogen production, hydrogen storage, power generation, and transportation applications to form a closed-loop energy system. Pan Feng, general manager of Forvia Hydrogen Solutions China, suggested that to address the challenges of cross-regional hydrogen transportation, China should accelerate the formulation of standards for containerized hydrogen transport to reduce hydrogen circulation costs.

Several experts noted that scaling up the hydrogen industry requires the full chain of production, storage, transportation, refueling, and utilization to be connected, while the sector must shift from being policy-driven to market-driven. Zhang Jinhua emphasized: “The key to scaling up fuel cell vehicles lies not in the vehicles themselves, but in hydrogen. The core task is to build a stable, economical, and sustainable regional hydrogen-use ecosystem.”

In his keynote report, Wan Gang, chairman of the China Association for Science and Technology, proposed drawing on the development experience of the power battery industry and establishing a full lifecycle management system. Fuel cells and hydrogen storage equipment should be given “digital IDs” to enable full traceability from production and operation to recycling.

Meanwhile, deeper global cooperation is essential to expanding the global hydrogen market. Petra Schwager, director of the Climate and Technology Partnerships Division at the United Nations Industrial Development Organization, said directly: “Without globally unified standards, there will be no global hydrogen economy.” Wan Gang concluded that the automotive industry has always been a globally open industry, and that China should continue deepening high-level global openness and cooperation to promote the scaled and high-quality development of the hydrogen energy and fuel cell vehicle industry.

After a decade of focused effort, the hydrogen industry has moved beyond its early stage and now stands at a crucial juncture for scaled development. From demonstration operation to large-scale application of fuel cell vehicles, and from breakthroughs in key materials to coordinated industrial-chain development, China’s hydrogen sector is entering a major transition from “technically feasible” to “economically viable.”