China issues green bonds worth $31.2b in 2018

BEIJING - China issued a total of $31.2 billion in green bonds last year, remaining the world's second-largest green bond market, a recent report showed.

The issuance in 2018 saw a 33-percent increase from the previous year, according to an annual report on China's green bond market jointly released Tuesday by the China Central Depository & Clearing Co and Climate Bonds Initiative.

Financial institutions continued to boast the largest share of the issuance, with the Industrial Bank accounting for 23 percent of last year's total issuance, the largest issuer in China and the second largest worldwide, the report said.

The low-carbon transport sector attracted 33 percent of the investment funds raised from green bonds, the largest share in China, followed by the energy sector at 28 percent.

According to the report, approximately three-fourths of the domestic green bonds were issued and traded on the country's interbank bond market.

China announced a plan in 2016 to establish a national green finance mechanism, becoming the first country worldwide to make such a move. It also helped push green finance to be included on the G20 agenda.