Chongqing - China is expanding hydrogen use beyond fuel-cell vehicle demonstrations into industry and regional transport networks, tackling a challenge facing the sector worldwide: how to cut costs and make hydrogen commercially viable.

The shift was a key focus of the International Forum on New Energy System Development Powered by Hydrogen, held in Chongqing on October 23.

Participants discussed hydrogen production, long-distance transportation, infrastructure and commercial applications, with particular attention to the Chengdu-Chongqing Hydrogen Corridor linking two major industrial centers in western China.

China's hydrogen policy is placing greater emphasis on commercial applications across the supply chain.

In March, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Finance and the National Development and Reform Commission jointly launched a hydrogen application pilot program covering transportation, industrial production and emerging uses.

The program aims to reduce average end-user hydrogen prices in participating city clusters to below 25 yuan per kilogram by 2030, with some better-positioned regions targeting around 15 yuan. It also seeks to double China's fuel-cell vehicle fleet from its 2025 level to approximately 100,000 vehicles.

Liu Anmin, general manager of the China Automotive Engineering Research Institute, said the policy marks a shift from technology demonstrations to commercial applications that can be replicated and expanded.

The challenge, he explained, is to coordinate hydrogen production, storage, transportation and consumption while developing sufficient demand to support infrastructure investment.

The Chengdu-Chongqing region already has an industrial base for hydrogen development. Liu said Sichuan and Chongqing produce about 600,000 metric tons of industrial byproduct hydrogen annually, while hydrogen refueling prices are around 25 yuan per kilogram.

Chongqing has also developed manufacturing capabilities for fuel-cell vehicles and components. According to municipal government information released in March, the city had 12 operational hydrogen refueling stations and nearly 500 fuel-cell vehicles in use at that time.

However, Liu acknowledged that the transport sector still faces difficulties in achieving large-scale commercial operations.

He said further reductions in fuel-cell system costs, vehicle prices and hydrogen supply costs would be important to improving the competitiveness of hydrogen-powered heavy trucks.

Transportation infrastructure was another focus of the forum.

Mikaa Blugeon-Mered, a hydrogen markets researcher affiliated with the University of Québec, said hydrogen corridors should connect producers with multiple sources of demand, including industry and transportation.

He cited a 195-kilometer hydrogen pipeline in Inner Mongolia linking renewable hydrogen production areas with industrial consumers around Baotou.

According to project estimates discussed at the forum, pipeline transportation could reduce hydrogen delivery costs from approximately 13 yuan to 3 yuan per kilogram, a reduction of about 77%.

The pipeline was approaching operation, but the projected cost savings had not yet been demonstrated through sustained commercial service.

Blugeon-Mered said such infrastructure could support industries including steelmaking and heavy-duty transportation rather than serving a single hydrogen consumer.

He also pointed to challenges in Europe, where large hydrogen pipeline networks have been proposed but implementation has been constrained by policy coordination and regulatory difficulties.

For Chongqing, he identified heavy-duty trucks, buses and other transportation applications as potential sources of demand. But he stressed that infrastructure development must be coordinated with production capacity and refueling facilities.

Hydrogen corridors, he argued, require integrated planning across supply, storage, transportation and end use.

A new research report released at the forum, Global Hydrogen Transportation Pathways Analysis: China's Medium- and Long-Term Hydrogen Supply–Demand Dynamics and Trade Outlook, examined how China could connect hydrogen production in resource-rich regions with growing demand from industrial and coastal markets.

The research report addressed a related challenge: China's hydrogen production and demand are not necessarily located in the same regions.

Zhao Kangning, a senior researcher at the International Hydrogen Fuel Cell Association, said China's existing hydrogen supply is concentrated around traditional industrial users, with production and consumption often located close together.

That pattern could change as renewable hydrogen production expands in resource-rich regions and demand grows in transportation, power generation, and other industries.

The report examined supply-and-demand scenarios for 2035 and 2060 and compared hydrogen pipelines with transportation using hydrogen-derived products such as ammonia and methanol.

Zhao said transportation choices must account for delivery scale, distance, infrastructure utilization, and final costs to consumers, rather than production costs alone.

The report also assessed international trade opportunities, including shipments of hydrogen-derived products from the Middle East to China, where production costs, financing and carbon-related requirements can influence competitiveness.

It recommended developing transportation infrastructure around established industrial demand and expanding networks gradually as commercial conditions improve.

The forum also featured research collaboration and partnership agreements involving international organizations, companies and Chongqing-based institutions.

Participants discussed how technology standards, testing capabilities and cross-border cooperation could support hydrogen production and distribution.

For Liu, the longer-term challenge is moving hydrogen development from reliance on policy incentives toward a market supported by stable demand and commercially sustainable infrastructure.

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