China’s National Carbon Market Makes Its First Trade

What’s new: China’s national carbon trading market completed its first transaction Friday, pricing emissions at 52.78 yuan ($8.16) per ton.

The transaction took place at 9:30 a.m., just after online trading opened at the Shanghai Environment and Energy Exchange. It was a trade of 160,000 tons of carbon dioxide worth 7.9 million yuan, the state-run Xinhua News Agency reported. The identities of buyer and seller remain unclear.

The first 10 companies to seal deals on the market include power producer China Huadian Corp. Ltd., state oil giant China Petrochemical Corp. and China Huaneng Group Co. Ltd., a state-owned electric utility giant, the report said.

The background: China kicked off its long-awaited national carbon trading market Friday, with the price of a ton of carbon emissions opening at 48 yuan, Xinhua reported.

Zhao Yingmin, vice minister of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, said at a press conference Thursday that the average carbon price in China’s pilot trading schemes, first launched in 2011 in seven regions including Beijing and Shanghai, has been 40 yuan per ton (link in Chinese) over the past two years.

Quick Takes are condensed versions of China-related stories for fast news you can use.

Contact reporter Wang Xintong (xintongwang@caixin.com) and editor Heather Mowbray (heathermowbray@caixin.com)

Download our app to receive breaking news alerts and read the news on the go.

Get our weekly free Must-Read newsletter.