China: Guangdong Province plans to launch carbon emission trading in December 2013. It will be the world's biggest carbon trading scheme after the European Union.
Guangdong has started allotting 388Mt of carbon emission quotas to selected enterprises, according to the provincial development and reform commission. Initially 242 companies from cement, power, iron and steel and petrochemical industries have been included in the quota allocation. The scheme will cap CO2 emissions at 350Mt for 2013.
Quotas equivalent to 29Mt of carbon emissions will be auctioned and the base price will be US$9.8/t. The rest of the quotas will be allotted to companies for free.
Shenzhen City started its carbon trading market in June 2013 and Shanghai launched its market on 26 November 2013. The National Development and Reform Commission has also approved pilot carbon emission trading schemes in Beijing, Tianjin, Chongqing and Hubei. China has pledged to reduce CO2 emissions by 40 – 45% per unit of GDP by 2020.