July 16, 2018 – Shanghai announced that it will offer 2 million carbon allowances in an additional auction on July 31. The goal of this auction is to help emitters comply with the ETS after shortages of certificate supply. The auctioning will be limited to ETS participants and the allowances bought must be used for compliance. Originally, this year’s compliance deadline had been set for June 30. It was postponed by a month due to some emitters facing compliance problems because they were unable to purchase permits. This situation was caused by the tendency of many potential sellers to hoard their allowances due to uncertainties related to the transition to the national ETS.
Ministry of Transport releases action plan to strengthen multimodal freight transport
On 29 September 2026, the Ministry of Transport, together with 11 other government departments and the China State Railway Group, issued the “Action Plan for Promoting High-Quality Development of Multimodal Transport and Optimizing the Transport Structure” (2026–2030). By 2030, the plan aims to improve links between railways, ports, inland terminals, logistics parks and industrial zones, strengthening multimodal freight services. Targets include an 80% railway connection rate in multimodal transport areas at coastal ports and more than 90% of freight transfers at key hubs completed within one hour. It also promotes shifts of suitable bulk freight from road to rail and water. For key industries, the plan targets an 85% share of clean transport.