China's Hainan province eyes international carbon trading platform

[BEIJING] China's Hainan province said it is considering setting up an international carbon emissions trading exchange to connect China's national trading scheme with the global market, as part of moves to open up the province for economic reforms.

Last June, China gave the southern island province "free trade port" status, which it aims to make fully functional by 2035, building an offshore center of trade and finance to streamline the flow of commodities, capital and talent.

The proposed emission trading platform was among a range of proposals released by the Hainan provincial government late on Wednesday. It gave no further details.

China, the world's biggest emitter of climate warming gases, launched its long-awaited national carbon emissions trading scheme (ETS) in mid-July, and has long envisaged a link-up with overseas counterparts.

Experts, however, say this could take at least a decade as the Chinese market has yet to fully establish itself.

"The link of the carbon markets of China and the EU can be a mid- to long-term vision for cooperation between the two parties," said Duan Maosheng, director at Centre for China Carbon Market Research in Tsinghua University.

As of Sept 1, carbon was trading on China's ETS at an average price of 49.30 yuan (6.45 euros) per tonne, well below about 60 euro a tonne on the European Union's ETS.

REUTERS