Hainan takes lead in carbon trading model

Establishment of center on island to aid nation's green transformation

An international carbon emission trading center has been approved for establishment in Hainan Free Trade Port to demonstrate the nation's low-carbon transformation and further open up its financial markets, according to officials with the Hainan provincial government.

To be registered in Sanya, a coastal resort city at the southern tip of tropical Hainan Island, and expected to be in operation in the latter half of the year, the carbon emission trading center was one of the key international trading venues to be promoted in the construction of Hainan Free Trade Port.

The master plan for the Hainan FTP released by the central government in June 2020 said that support would be granted to establish international trading venues for energy, shipping, bulk commodities, intellectual property rights, equities and carbon emission rights in Hainan. The plan aims to build Hainan into a globally influential high-level free trade port by the middle of the century.

The center will provide a strong capital support platform for all kinds of carbon financial products, and boost the reduction of carbon emissions and energy consumption in a bid to serve the national green and low-carbon development strategy, according to a meeting about preparations for the new trading venue held in Haikou, Hainan's provincial capital, last week.

Establishing the international carbon market in Hainan is an important way to achieve the nation's goals for peak carbon emissions and carbon neutrality, and a crucial link in developing a market-oriented ecological compensation mechanism, officials said at the meeting.

Experts said that construction of the Hainan International Carbon Emission Trading Center is of critical significance.

"Hainan FTP has an excellent market environment and preferential tax policies, which will bolster long-term market expectations. Hainan's practice in piloting international carbon emissions trading will be a demonstration for other parts of the country," Zhang Jianhong, a senior engineer with China International Engineering Consulting, told Security Times.

The establishment of various trading centers is an important step for Hainan to build a market system with international factors and accelerate the agglomeration of people, logistics and capital in Hainan FTP.Rapid progress is being made thanks to the introduction of supporting fiscal and tax policies by the central authorities, according to officials with the Hainan provincial financial supervision administration.

International trading centers for energy, tropical agricultural products, intellectual property rights and cultural works of art have been reconstructed or newly built. Efforts are underway to accelerate the building of new international trading places for products and services such as equities, options and shipping.

Song Xiangqing, vice-president of the Academy of Government at Beijing Normal University, said that the trading places in Hainan will become essential platforms for China to export and import commodities and property rights and are expected to foster "Hainan prices", which will become a bellwether for some bulk commodities, property rights, equities and options in world market transactions.