At the 24th Beijing-Hong Kong Economic Cooperation Symposium held on December 6, Yin Yong, member of the Standing Committee of the CPC Beijing Municipal Committee and Vice Mayor of Beijing, said that Beijing was building a national green exchange with high standards and actively working on the China Certified Emission Reduction (CCER) trading mechanism and other carbon trading centers. By the end of October, a total of 74.557 million tons of various carbon emission permits had been traded in Beijing's carbon market, with a total worth of 2.32 billion yuan. The average transaction price of Beijing's pilot carbon allowances was the highest in China.
Beijing has been vigorously promoting the emission reduction of pollutants and greenhouse gases, and its environment continues to improve. It has been leading the efforts in energy saving and carbon reduction. In 2020, the carbon dioxide emission per 10,000 yuan of GDP in Beijing was reduced to 0.42 tons, the lowest among all provincial-level regions in China, surpassing the target set by the country.
At present, Beijing is developing a roadmap to carbon neutrality. Taking pilot initiatives and the reform and opening-up of Beijing's "Two Zones" as an opportunity, the city will encourage and guide financial resources to invest in green, low-carbon, and sustainable fields, and tap into the strength of green finance to realize carbon peak and carbon neutrality goals and climate governance. By the end of June this year, Beijing's green credit balance was 1.27 trillion yuan, accounting for about 10% of China's total, the highest in China. From January to October this year, non-financial enterprises in Beijing issued 150.308 billion yuan of green bonds, 7.8 times higher than the previous year, ranking first domestically.
Yin Yong said that in response to climate change, Beijing and Hong Kong should deepen cooperation in green finance, strengthen communication and exchanges between financial regulation departments, financial institutions, green enterprises and green finance professionals, and jointly promote the active role of finance in developing green and low-carbon industries and promoting ecological conservation.
Promote in-depth cooperation between green financial institutions. Beijing's "Two Zones" initiative has been carried out for one year and has witnessed fruitful results in the financial field. Breakthroughs have been made in relaxing financial market access, opening capital accounts, helping financial institutions obtain business qualifications, as well as financial technology innovation and wealth management. Cross-border capital flows have become easier and two-way green investment is more open. Yin Yong said that Hong Kong is home to many financial institutions and third-party evaluation agencies that specialize in green finance, as well as international institutions focusing on green investment and green asset management. They are welcome to strengthen their cooperation with financial institutions in Beijing, share advanced international experience in green finance, and provide advanced green financial products and services. In doing so, it is hoped that Beijing-Hong Kong green financial cooperation will generate more outcomes which may serve as demonstration models.
Jointly build an international carbon trading market. The core of green finance is to establish a set of market-oriented transaction and service mechanisms, set reasonable prices through the price discovery mechanism, and incentivize and regulate all market players. "Hong Kong investors are welcome to actively participate in the building of the Beijing Green Exchange that opens to the world, explore and promote cross-border transfer of green assets, green bonds, green asset securitization, etc., and promote the establishment of a carbon account system. We will let the market play its role in encouraging enterprises and individuals to contribute to the social and economic green transformation by taking the initiative to reduce carbon emissions." said Yin Yong.
Make the capital market better serve the green development. The Beijing Stock Exchange officially opened for business on November 15. Yin Yong said, "We support the Hong Kong Stock Exchange to strengthen cooperation and share the experience of governing listed companies with the Beijing Stock Exchange to help it attract high-quality and innovative small and medium-sized companies that are green, low-carbon, socially responsible and ESG-focused."
Jointly set the international standards for green finance. As the national financial regulation center, Beijing is actively building itself into an international center for green finance standards, leveraging its leading position in data resources, professional services, and regulatory practices. Yin Yong hoped that Beijing and Hong Kong would strengthen exchanges and cooperation in carbon accounting, carbon targets, environmental information disclosure, green assessment, green rating, etc., pilot pioneering green finance standards, and deeply engage in the international standards governance, so as to increase the international influence of China's green standards, attract more foreign capital to China's green market, and enhance the international competitiveness of China's green industries.
Yin Yong also hoped that Beijing and Hong Kong would jointly promote international cooperation in green finance, transfer green finance capacity and experience to countries along the routes of the "Belt and Road" initiative, and promote more environmentally friendly projects.
(Reporter: Li Bo)
