China to expand national carbon emission trading market

China plans to expand its national carbon market to include more industries under quota management, covering about 80 percent of the country's total carbon dioxide emissions, officials said.

The Ministry of Ecology and Environment and 17 other government departments have jointly issued a plan on addressing climate change for the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-2030), urging efforts to fully leverage the role of the national carbon market in supporting the control of both the total volume and intensity of carbon emissions, and to extend the market to more industries and greenhouse gases.

In 2025, a total of 3,378 key emitters were included in the carbon emission trading market's quota management, covering more than 65 percent of the country's total carbon dioxide emissions, according to data from the ministry.

Over the past five years since the market was established, cumulative trading volume of carbon emission quotas has exceeded 926 million tons, with the total turnover amounting to 62.475 billion yuan (about 9.23 billion U.S. dollars).

In the first half of 2026, the trading volume reached 52.96 million tons, up about 37 percent year on year.

According to the plan, the new round of expansion will bring chemicals, petrochemicals, civil aviation, papermaking, and other industries to market.

"Industries that have already peaked their carbon emissions, or those with saturated production capacity, should be the first to be subject to the total carbon emission control. In the meantime, a paid allocation of quotas should be implemented, gradually tightening the emission baseline for free quota allocations," said Zhang Xin, chief economist of the National Climate Change Strategy Research and International Cooperation Center.

Zhang also pointed to market prices, saying that the involvement of more emitters can help keep prices at a proper level.

"We need to shift from market activities gradually focused on compliance to those focused on carbon asset management, and develop carbon finance and other derivatives in an orderly manner. This will allow the carbon emission market to find more effective prices, providing economic and technological drivers for the transformation toward green and low-carbon development," Zhang said.

China to expand national carbon emission trading market

The U.S. Federal Reserve on Wednesday kept its target range for the federal funds rate unchanged at 3.75 to 4 percent, less than a week ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.

"Economic activity is expanding at a strong pace. While uncertainty remains elevated owing, in part, to geopolitical developments, domestic spending has been resilient. Productivity growth is strong, and capital investment is robust. Job gains have kept pace with the workforce, and the unemployment rate has changed little," said the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) in a statement.

Nevertheless, inflation remains elevated. In support of the Federal Reserve's dual mandate, "the Committee decided to maintain the target range for the federal funds rate at 3-3/4 to 4 percent," the FOMC said.

The committee reaffirmed "its policy of maintaining ample reserves in the banking system" and "price stability," saying the accumulation of more information will help the committee "determine the policy stance appropriate to ensure a timely return of inflation to the Committee's 2 percent goal."

Of the 12 FOMC members, 10 voted to keep the rate unchanged, while two favored a rate hike.

U.S. Fed holds interest rate steady ahead of midterm elections