China raised MEPS for LED luminaries for road and tunnel lighting

China's revised MEPS is raising the efficiency requirements for for LED luminaires for road and tunnel lighting by 25%, reducing 73 million tons of CO2 through 2040.

In May 2025, China issued new Minimum Energy Performance Standard (MEPS) for LED luminaires for road and tunnel lighting (GB 37478-2025), which will take effect on June 1, 2026. This revised MEPS significantly raises the minimum energy efficiency requirements by about 25%. It sets a benchmark of 130 lm/W for LED road lighting luminaires with Correlated Color Temperature‌ (CCT) from 3500K to 5000K, and 150 lm/W for LED road lighting luminaires with CCT over 5000K. Together, these two categories constitue more than 67% market share. The minimum energy efficiency requirements for LED tunnel lighting luminaires are 10 lm/W lower than the requirements for LED road lighting luminaires.

This new MEPS is projected to result in a cumulative reduction of 73 million tons of CO2 emissions by 2040, which is a major policy win for CLASP’s China program in 2025.

This revised standard expands its regulatory scope from AC (alternating current) products to AC and DC (direct current) LED Road and tunnel lighting luminaires. It removes the lower energy efficiency requirements for low-power LEDs and applies the same requirement to all power levels. It also sets the standby power limit for dimmable and tunable LED luminaires for road and tunnel lighting.

CLASP contributed to this outcome by providing international standards best practices, comprehensive lighting data analysis, and evidence-based recommendations on energy saving and emission reduction potential analysis.