Guangzhou, capital of South China's Guangdong province, announced Thursday that its hydrogen energy industry is expected to reach 200 billion yuan (about $28.6 billion) by 2030.

The provincial capital is intensifying efforts to develop a sophisticated hydrogen energy industrial system to reduce reliance on fossil energy and fill the gap in limited sources of sustainable energy, Chen Jianrong, deputy director of Guangzhou Municipal Development and Reform Commission, told a press conference.

Guangzhou plans to build a hydrogen energy industrial chain with a production value of over 60 billion yuan by 2025, and an industrial system that consists of production, storage, transaction and application with an output value of 200 billion yuan by 2030, according to the press conference.

Over 20 hydrogen energy projects with investment totaling over 4 billion yuan have been introduced in Guangzhou.

The city will further explore the use of energy in fields such as public transport, drones, mechanical equipment, and shipping in the near future.

China has enhanced policy support for research and development in hydrogen fuel cells in recent years, said Li Can of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.