China has provided guidance to the country's banking and insurance industries on efforts to vigorously develop green finance in support of green and low-carbon development.
The China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission and the People's Bank of China (PBOC) on Thursday jointly issued the "Implementation Plan for the High-Quality Development of Green Finance in the Banking and Insurance Industries", increasing support for developing green sectors and a circular economy.
The document focuses on key areas of green and low-carbon development, proposing four key tasks.
First, the country will continue to support the optimization and upgrading of industrial structure. This will involve strengthening medium- to long-term financial support for technological innovation and equipment upgrades in traditional industries, and promoting more financial resources to serve the development of green industries. Banks should also assist in the construction of low-carbon transportation system, drive the green transition of infrastructure, and promote green and low-carbon development in urban and rural construction.
In terms of new energy, efforts should be made to support the low-carbon transformation of the energy system and focus on project coordination and credit support for new energy industries such as solar and wind power, the document states. It also highlights the need to improve financial services for the complete industrial chain of new energy vehicles, support clean and highly efficient utilization of traditional energy, and provide financial services for ensuring energy supply.
On the carbon trading front, it calls for supporting the construction of carbon markets, endorsing their development on the national and regional levels. These markets should support the development and application of green and low-carbon technologies, according to the document.
The plan stresses the need to support the improvement of ecological environment quality and biodiversity conservation, to reinforce efforts in pollution prevention and control by increasing support for the protection of important ecological systems and the restoration of major projects, to support national park construction and land greening initiatives, and to develop major ecological projects, such as the country's Three-North Shelterbelt Forest Program, which aims to plant wind-breaking forests that help prevent desertification.
China issues plan on development of green finance
