According to the website of the State Council of the People's Republic of China, Premier LI Qiang recently signed a State Council decree, announcing the “Regulations on Administration of Carbon Emissions Trading ”, which will come into effect on May 1, 2024. Carbon emission trading is an important policy tool for controlling and reducing greenhouse gas emissions such as carbon dioxide through market mechanisms, and helps to actively and prudently promote carbon peak and carbon neutrality.

According to the heads of the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, the national carbon emission trading market went online for trading in July 2021, covering an average annual CO2 emission of approximately 5.1 billion tons, accounting for over 40% of the total national emissions. By the end of 2023, a total of 2257 power generation enterprises have been included in the national carbon emission trading market, with a cumulative transaction volume of about 440 million tons and a transaction volume of about 24.9 billion yuan.

The Regulations have established a basic institutional framework for carbon emission rights trading management from six aspects: firstly, the legal status and responsibilities of registration and trading institutions. The second is the coverage of carbon emission trading, as well as the trading products, trading entities, and trading methods. The third is to determine key emission units. The fourth is the allocation of carbon emission quotas. The fifth is the preparation and verification of emission reports. The sixth is the clearance and market trading of carbon emission quotas.