Policies and Institutions to Support Carbon Neutrality in China by 2060

China’s leadership has announced its aim to achieve carbon neutrality at the national level by 2060. Recent statements clarify that the country’s pledge applies to all greenhouse gases. This review examines the extent to which current policies and institutions would need to evolve to support deep decarbonization in the world’s largest emitting nation. First, we describe the landscape of policies related to climate change mitigation, focusing on planning targets, command-and-control policies, and market-based instruments. Second, we discuss the institutional landscape in the energy sector and identify changes that could improve the effectiveness of climate policies. Third and finally, we discuss how international action in the realms of climate negotiations, trade, and technological innovation could help clear the path to the 2060 goal. Our policy review illustrates how market-based elements are increasingly being incorporated into existing command-and-control policies or layered on top of them. This approach may be most successful if it can generate influential beneficiaries early on while reducing expected costs over time.