China intends to expand the national carbon market

China’s top leadership has promised to expand the national emissions trading system to cover more industrial sectors, Bloomberg reports.

Currently, trading on China’s carbon market, which was launched in 2021, covers only power plants. Although it has picked up, prices remain much lower than in Europe and are considered insufficient to influence large polluters. For example, in November last year, they reached a record high of 105.65 yuan ($14.54) per ton, but have since declined.

According to Prime Minister Li Keqiang in his report on the work of the government to the National People’s Congress, China will speed up the creation of a system to control the total amount and intensity of carbon emissions and expand the scope of the China Emissions Trading Exchange to more sectors.

The government has made it clear that it plans to add steel, aluminum, and cement producers to this market by the end of 2025.

China will launch initiatives on carbon emissions statistics and accounting, as well as develop a system for their labeling and certification, Li said. He noted that the country will also take active steps to remove barriers to green trade.

China will accelerate the deployment of renewable energy capacities, and more will be done to integrate them into local power grids. Among other things, low-carbon modernization tests will be conducted at coal-fired power plants.

Li also reiterated that China intends to continue to play a key role in emissions reduction diplomacy.

As GMK Center reported earlier, the Chinese steelmaker HBIS Group has stepped up the use of low-carbon technologies and is closely monitoring the development of hydrogen energy.