To enhance policy dialogue on carbon markets between China and Europe and to support the development of China’s national Emissions Trading System (ETS), GIZ organized two study tours to Germany and European Union institutions in October and November 2025. Tailored to the interests of policymakers and research institutions, the tours focused on ETS and advanced monitoring technologies.
On 7 June 2023, the National Center for Climate Change Strategy and International Cooperation (NCSC) organised the closing workshop of one cooperation project on mitigation of industry related N2O. The cooperation is part of the project “Sino-German Cooperation on Emissions Trading Systems, Carbon Market Mechanisms, and Industry-related N2O Mitigation.”
This manual presents and assesses different policy tools to reduce industry-related N2O emissions.
In January 2023, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE) gradually began publishing Frequently Asked Questions series for the national ETS implementation on the official
On 30 March 2023, Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE) called for the public proposals for the CCER project methodology. For building integrated national voluntary
On 27 March 2023, GIZ and NCSC jointly held the “Technical Workshop on MRV in the Emissions Trading Systems” online.
On 15 March 2023, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE) released the Notice on the Allowance Allocation Tasks and issued the “Implementation Plan on
On 7 February 2023, Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE) released the Notice on the Management of GHG Emissions Reporting for Power Generation Sector from
In November and December, 2022, GIZ and NCSC hosted two capacity building training sessions under the guidance of the Department of Climate Change (DCC) of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE). The virtual trainings provided an overview of the German experience of mitigating N2O emissions from the industrial sectors and relevant policies for similar mitigation in China.
During a regular press conference of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE) in September, Mr. BIE Tao, Deputy Director of the Department of Laws,
Together with the National Center for Climate Change Strategy and International Cooperation (NCSC) the ETS/N2O project held a workshop on Industry-related N2O mitigation technology during which N2O mitigation technologies and the handbook on Experiences of EU/Germany were discussed.
On 29 August, SONG Zhiping, the president of World Cement Association (WCA), announced the cement sector will be officially covered in the national ETS in
On 29 August 2022, SONG Zhiping, the president of World Cement Association (WCA), announced the cement sector will be officially covered in the national ETS in his speech at the virtual meeting of “Carbon Asset Management and Dual Carbon Targets” held by WCA.
On 19 August 2022, the National Development Reform Committee (NDRC), National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) and Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE) jointly released the
On 19 August 2022, the National Development Reform Committee (NDRC), National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) and Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE) jointly released the “Implementation Plan on Accelerating the Construction of a Unified and Regulated Statistics and Accounting System.” It aims to establish a unified and standardized statistical accounting system of GHG emissions and provides reliable data support by 2025, so as to ensure the achievement of carbon peaking and carbon neutrality targets on time.
With the announcement of its 2030/2060 emissions control targets, China’s climate policy has entered a new era.
After Prof. ZHANG Xiliang predicted in April that the national ETS would cover more sectors in 2023, various media houses collected opinions from experts on the future development of the ETS in May.
The deadline for the reporting of verified emissions data for power generation companies under the national ETS for 2021 will be extended by three months to the end of September, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE) said on 8 June.
According to the release of data from the first compliance cycle of the national ETS from 24 provinces, 113 companies had not surrendered allowances as of May 07.
The workshop was hosted by the National Center for Climate Change Strategy and International Cooperation (NCSC) on 06 May and focused on updating emission factors for CCER projects.
In the first weeks of the new year, the Track-2-Dialogue (T2D) working groups 1 to 4 dealt with the content-related and organisational re-orientation of their fields of work.
The second Steering Committee Meeting of the Sino-German Cooperation on Climate Change (SGCCC) took place on 24 March in a hybrid setting.
After July 2021 reports had shown that the technical service company China Carbon Energy Investment and S&T (中碳能投科技有限公司) falsified emission data and supported key enterprises in their effort to manipulate their data of the first compliance cycle, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE) announced to increase its attention on the quality of emission data.
On the afternoon of 22 March (Beijing time), GIZ China, the International Carbon Action Partnership (ICAP), and the World Bank’s Partnership for Market Readiness (PMI) launched the Chinese version of Emissions Trading in Practice: A Handbook on Design and Implementation”, the second version of which was released in English in 2021.
This handbook sets out a 10-step process for designing and implementing an ETS.
After years of preparation and piloting, trading in the national Emission Trading System (ETS) was launched in July 2021.
On 25 October, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE) published the “Notice on National ETS Emission Data Quality and Supervision Work” to the local ecological and environmental authorities.
On 12 November, the ETS & N2O project received three guests from the German Embassy: Hendrik BARKELING, Head of the Economic Department, Ole GROGRO, Deputy Head of the Economic Section, and Miriam GUTZKE, Environmental Officer.
On 14 October, Project Director Kristian WILKENING and Project Coordinator WANG Yin participated in the conference “Green Vision, Blue Future” held by the Midea Group, a large manufacturer of electrical appliances.
The amendment to the Montreal Protocol, which was first signed in October 2016 and regulates the phase-down of hydrofluorocarbons, has become effective in China as of 15 September 2021.
The agency requested companies from six sectors to submit GHG emissions data including N2O and HFC-23 in 2020.
Carbon sinks might be traded as offsets in the national ETS.
Currently, the accounting opening for covered companies is almost completed and the market is expected to become more active in the following months. More sectors might be included in the national ETS in the next year
Head of the national ETS’ technical expert team explained that China’s national carbon price had averaged at around 8 USD/t, reaching a price that is higher than the 7 USD/t of China’s estimated marginal abatement cost.
Years of groundwork came to a conclusion with the official ushering in of trading in the Chinese national emissions trading system (ETS) on 16 July
At the Global Asset Management Forum 2021 Beijing Summit, Special Envoy for Climate Change XIE Zhenhua explained that achieving carbon neutrality by 2060 includes the emission of all greenhouse gases, not only CO2.
During the opening speech at the launch event of the online trading of the national ETS in Wuhan on 16 July, MEE Party Secretary SUN Jinlong thanked GIZ China for the congratulatory letter sent to MEE in June for the launch of the ETS.
GIZ China and the co-authors of the policy paper “The EU carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM) and China: unpacking options on policy design, potential responses, and possible impacts” jointly hosted a digital workshop in July.
Despite the Ministry of Ecology and Environment’s (MEE) statement at a press conference in May, the government body has declared that the launch of the online trading function for its national ETS will be postponed to a later date, likely July. No reasons for the delay were given.
On 22 June 2021, the Shanghai Environment and Energy Exchange (SHEEEX) announced the transaction rules for the national ETS. The announcement, elaborated on the five
The EU has announced ambitious new climate targets, pledging to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 55 percent by 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.
On 16 June 2021, the energy team of GIZ in China organized a Sino-German exchange forum on decarbonization of the energy sector in the context
Since May 2021, the Department of Climate Change (DCC) has consecutively requested the China Building Materials Federation (CBMF), the China Iron and Steel Association (CISA),
On 11 June 2021, the State Council issued the Notice for the Legislative Plan of 2021 – a document in which the country’s highest-ranking administrative
On 28 May 2021, eight governmental institutions, including the Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE), the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM), the National Development and Reform
On 17 May 2021, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE) issued three documents expounding the administrative rules regarding the trading platform, registry, and settlements
On March 29 and 30, 2021, the MEE released the “Verification Guideline for GHG Emission (trial)” as well as the “Monitoring and Reporting Guideline of
On March 30, 2021, the MEE released an updated draft of the national emissions trading system (ETS) Ordinance for public comments by April 30, 2021.
During the “Two Sessions” of China this March, deputies and members of the National People’s Congress (NPC) and Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) have
On January 05, 2021, the MEE released the interim administrative measure for the national ETS of China, which came into force on February 01, 2021.
China’s Annual Central Economic Work Conference was held in Beijing from December 16th-18th. The conference set out key tasks for the next year. Preparing the
In December 2020, there have been three regional pilot ETSs – Fujian, Guangdong and Tianjin – which published their allowance allocation plans for the year
Since November, the MEE consecutively released draft versions of the trial administrative measures as well as supplementary guidelines (registration, trading & clearing, allocation plan, monitoring
On December 30th, 2020, the MEE officially issued the “2019-2020 cap setting and allowances allocation plan (power generation sector) of China’s national ETS”. Local authorities
On November 13, December 17-18, 2020, the Shenyang Municipal Bureau of Ecology and Environment (SYBEE) invited local company representatives from its local industry sectors to
To support the construction of the Monitoring, Reporting and Verification (MRV) system of the national ETS in China, the project commissioned the China Quality Certification
At a conference on September 27, following the climate announcement of President Xi Jinping at the UN General Assembly, Mr. Li Gao, Director General of
On September 21, the State Council approved new pilot free trade zones in Beijing and in the provinces of Hunan, Anhui, and Zhejiang. In the
The Meeting to Commemorate the 2020 International Ozone Day in China was held by the Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE) on September 16, with
With China approaching the operational start of its national ETS, the system’s infrastructure design is now in its final stages. One key building block is
In line with the National ETS Training Notice for the Power Sector on Allowance Allocation Trial Calculation and Administrative Management, issued by the Ministry of
On 25 September 2019, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE) issued a notice on national ETS training for the trial calculation of allocating power
On 22 October, the MEE training series on the national ETS began in Chengdu and will run until 8 December. It is divided into eight
June 19, 2019 – The city of Tianjin will auction 2 million CO2 allowances on June 27. The auction will only be open to companies
May 27, 2019 – The Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE) issued a notice on the process of producing a list of power plants (incl.
12th to 14th March 2019, GIZ and the Shanghai Environment and Energy Exchange (SEEE) together with the German Emissions Trading Authority (DEHSt) and the European
On the 29th of March 2019, the MEE initiated a public consultation on the draft Interim Regulations on the Management of Carbon Emissions Trading It
November 26, 2018 – On the 20th and 21st of November, the sixth and last advanced training this year took place in Wuhan, a city
November 26, 2018 – Together with the Chinese National Center for Climate Change Strategy and International Cooperation (NCSC) GIZ held its fifth advanced training on
2018 in Wuhan GIZ and the National Center for Climate Change Strategy and International Cooperation (NCSC) carried out the fifth and sixth sessions of the
From 22 to 26 October 2018, GIZ and the International Carbon Action Partnership (ICAP), together with SinoCarbon, Hainan Development and Reform Commission (DRC) and the Hainan Normal University convened an international advanced ETS training course in the city of Haikou.
A panel discussion on carbon market development took place at the 12th China New Energy International Forum. The panel featured three members of the ENVI
October 10, 2018 – The newly established Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE) published a detailed organisational plan of its Department of Climate Change (DCC),
October 08, 2018 – According to the new scientific report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) of the United Nations, limiting global warming
September 25, 2018 – The Hebei Development and Reform Commission (DRC) announced in its “Puhui Certified Emissions Reduction Pilot Working Plan” that it will launch
September 05, 2018 – The Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE) organised an extensive training event with about 200 participants to strengthen the state-owned electricity
August 30, 2018 – The Guangdong Provincial Development and Reform Commission announced that until further notice it will not approve any applications for more credit
July 20, 2018 – Lanzhou, a city which’s name is well known even outside of China due to its rich culinary culture, was the location
July 16, 2018 – From 12 to 13 July 2018, around 30 representatives of provincial authorities and supporting agencies came together in the northern Chinese
July 17, 2018 – During the 20th EU-China summit, Brussels and Beijing signed a strategic partnership including a renewed commitment to carbon market cooperation, while
July 16, 2018 – Shanghai announced that it will offer 2 million carbon allowances in an additional auction on July 31. The goal of this
July 10, 2018 – During an event at the Dutch embassy in Beijing, the 2018 version of the Carbon Pricing Survey was published. The Survey
June 11, 2018 – The government of Shanghai announced a new at 5.15 million tonnes cap on CO2 emission growth, thereby setting the target significantly
May 24, 2018 – The council in Nanshan district in the city of Shenzhen has extended a funding scheme for local emitters, paying them if
May 8, 2018 – The central government has decided to hand over the responsibility of running the nation’s offset registry to the Beijing Environment Exchange,
April 30, 2018 – In the first quarter of the year, the energy intensity of China’s GDP has declined by 3.2 percent, as reported by
April 25, 2018 – The European Union and China officially launched the three-year long second phase of their emissions trading co-operation programme. In this programme,
April 18, 2018 – From the 17th to the 18th of April, GIZ and the Chinese National Center for Climate Change Strategy and International Cooperation
April 13, 2018 – GIZ and the Chinese National Center for Climate Change Strategy and International Cooperation (NCSC) conducted the first advanced training session on
April 19, 2018 – The State Council of China has approved an allocation plan for the trial emissions trading system for the power sector. Although
According to the “Notice of Emissions Data Collection for the year of 2016 and 2017, and Monitoring Plan Submission (发改办气候〔2017〕1989号)” published last December, the following
27 March 2018 – China recently announced that the Climate Change Office will be moved away from the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) to
May 24, 2018 – According to IETA’s annual GHG Market Sentiment survey, 71% of respondents think that the reputation of emission trading could be impacted
15 March 2018. Beijing, PR China – Delegates from the Chinese National People’s Congress asked the government to speed up the implementation of the national
14 March 2018 – The Chinese Government announced that the topics of climate change and emission reduction, which are currently with the NDRC, will be
08 March 2018 – Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) and the China Carbon Forum hosted the first China Low Carbon Leadership Network event of 2018
9 March 2018 – Shanghai DRC issued a notification requesting all enterprises covered by the Shanghai pilot ETS to submit their emissions reports for the
May 8, 2018 – The government of Guangdong province has issued 61.000 carbon credits this week, the first ones issued since July of last year.
24 February 2018 – Hainan Province People’s Government published the 13th Five Year Plan on GHG emissions control. It targeted to decrease CO2 emissions per
11 February 2018 – The CBEEX published its annual market report for the Beijing pilot ETS. According to the report, 7.53 million tons of allowances
25 January 2018 – The Shanghai DRC published a list of key emitters covered by the national ETS for the summation of emissions reports and
24 January 2018 – The Beijing DRC published a list of Key Emitters and Reporting Entities for the year 2017. Key emitters include entities with
Hubei Province published Allowance Allocation Plan for 2017 16 January 2018 – The Hubei Development and Reform Commission (DRC) published the 2017 allowance allocation plan
07 December 2017 – China Carbon Forum, together with Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH and the International Carbon Action Partnership (ICAP), co-organised an
06 December 2017 – Decades of reliance on coal-generated power coupled with unprecedented economic growth have left China the world’s largest emitter of greenhouse gases,
06 December 2017 – The Chinese Society for Electrical Engineering (CSEE) held a conference on ‘Carbon Emissions and Emissions Trading in China’s Power Sector’ in
11 September 2017 – In order to explore economic policy instruments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the transport sector, the projects Capacity Building for
28 November – 02 December 2016 and 05-09 December 2016 – In order to further prepare local officials and their supporting institutions for participation in
20 March 2017 – In recent years, climate protection and the transition to a low-carbon economy have become core objectives of the Chinese government. China
15 November 2016 – With the approaching launch of the national emissions trading scheme (ETS), the project “Capacity Building for the Establishment of Emissions Trading
In March 2016 the Worldbank’s Partnership for Market Readiness (PMR) and the International Carbon Action Partnership (ICAP) jointly published a guidebook on emissions trading titled
11 October 2016 – In order to provide policy recommendations and to support key institutions and actors of the national Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) in
On July 26, 2016, the “Role of ETS in Supporting NDC Implementation” event took place in Beijing, which is part of the China Low Carbon
5 August 2016 – The GIZ and the Shanghai Information Center (SHIC) hosted the final workshop on “Verification in the Civil Aviation Sector for the
On 8 August 2016, the GIZ project “Capacity Building for the Establishment of Emissions Trading Schemes (ETS) in China” and the Zhejiang Center for Climate
20 July 2016 – The Chinese government has named the aviation sector to be included in the national emissions trading scheme (ETS). Presently Shanghai is
23-24 April 2016 – The Chinese Government has made climate protection and the transition to a low-carbon
Photo Credit: Press Office BMUB 21 April 2016 – German Federal Minister of the Environment, Ms. Barbara Hendricks, visited the Shanghai Environmental
10-11 March 2016 – China’s national Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) is scheduled for 2017. Civil aviation was nominated for inclusion
On 8 March 2016, the GIZ and the China Academy of Civil Aviation Science and Technology (CAST) hosted a workshop in Beijing on “Allowance Allocation
Dec 28, 2015 – In recent years, China has launched seven emissions trading pilots in two provinces and five cities. Since the pilot schemes have
01-02 November 2015 – The Sino-German project Capacity Building for the Establishment of Emissions Trading Schemes (ETS) in China co-organized the International Symposium on COP21:
06 November 2015 – The GIZ China project Capacity Building for the Establishment of Emissions Trading Schemes in China publishes a Chinese translation of the
06 November 2015 – The GIZ China project Capacity Building for the Establishment of Emissions Trading Schemes in China publishes a Chinese translation of the
March 2015 – On 18th June 2013 Shenzhen officially launched its local Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS), the first among the seven pilots. By mid-2014, the
30-31 July 2015 – In order to reach the goal of reducing the CO2 emission per GDP unit by 17% in 2015 based on 2010
10-11 June 2015 – This workshop on ETS legislation in China, held in Beijing, brought together high level legal experts from Germany and China to
24 July 2015 – A monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) system is vital for an effective ETS. Data quality and the reliable verification of data
27-28 July 2015 – In 2011, the Chinese government announced to gradually establish a carbon market in China as one instrument to tackle the rising
17-24 March 2013 – The Study Tour focused on ETS legislation and experience sharing with Germany and Great Britain. The delegation included representatives of the
27 February-1 March 2013 – Emissions Trading Scheme is fairly a new concept in China and Guangdong is expected to be among the first provinces
22-31 October 2012 – For the implementation of an effective carbon registry, which is essential for a functional ETS, the Shenzhen pilot region started tendering
15 October 2012 – The Low Carbon Leadership Network is an event series jointly organized by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH and China
17-27 June 2012 – In October 2011, NDRC announced the seven regions in which an ETS would be piloted. The pilots are expected to launch
31 May 2012 – The Low Carbon Leadership Network is an event series jointly organized by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH and China
24 May 2011 – The Low Carbon Leadership Network is an event series jointly organized by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH and China
09-13 December 2013 – “By providing a platform for information sharing and experience exchange, the workshop helped to inspire our daily work.” – Participant The
29 November 2013 – 2013 was the first year of carbon trading in China and Beijing launched its ETS on November 28th. To mark this
16-18 April 2014 – At the beginning of 2014, NDRC published a notice to all provinces requiring key-enterprises with carbon emissions of more than 13,000
18 October-05 November 2014 – In preparation for the national ETS and to deepen the understanding of Chinese policy makers and key stakeholders regarding the
27 November 2014 – The Sino-German Project “Capacity Building for the Establishment and Development of a Technical and Institutional Infrastructure for Achieving China’s 2020 Targets
16-19 September 2014 – With the recent completions of the first compliance period in Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, Shenzhen and Guangzhou, issues and difficulties amongst verifiers
04 September 2014 – GIZ, Shenzhen DRC and the Shenzhen Emission Exchange jointly organised an emissions trading training session to build capacity for the development
14-15 August 2014 – In order to enhance the understanding of GHG monitoring and reporting in Jiangsu, GIZ cooperated with both Jiangsu DRC and Jiangsu
22-24 July 2014 – Guangdong is currently the largest pilot in China, covering a total of 380 million tons of emissions whilst only including four
18-19 June 2014 – To further establish a solid foundation for the national ETS, the NDRC has expanded mandatory requirements for GHG reporting amongst key
13 May 2014 – Together with Shenzhen Carbon Exchange and the Shenzhen-DRC, GIZ co-hosted the Shenzhen dialogue for enterprises as an opportunity for participating enterprises
13-15 November 2013 – In the process of finalizing the preparations for the trading system and about to launch its ETS, Shanghai welcomed GIZ’s support
25 June-04 July 2013 – A delegation from the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), Tsinghua University, SinoCarbon Innovation & Investment Co., Ltd. as well
09-15 April 2013 – “The visit to three European countries was fruitful, a huge amount of information was conveyed from more than 30 experts and
