It's hard to imagine that China, the world's largest greenhouse gas emitter, could one day lead the world in going green, but the country is nurturing a new competitive edge through environmentally friendly growth.
China submitted a plan with ambitious goals to reduce carbon emissions and develop a green economy to the Secretariat of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change on Tuesday, underscoring that going green will be a new focus for China as its economy plateaus.
From financial policies supporting green development to growing green businesses and promotion of less polluting lifestyles, the Chinese economy is gaining new momentum from stimulus measures based on environmental concerns.
GREEN FINANCING
China is aiming to effectively curb carbon dioxide emissions by 2030, when it will have cut such emissions per unit of GDP by 60 to 65 percent from 2005 levels, according to Tuesday's plan, titled "Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDC)".
Capital is crucial to meeting the targets, and China is working on channeling more money into environmentally friendly projects.
A financial system will be built to channel funding through loans, private equity, bonds, securities and insurance to the green industry,agreed senior Chinese officials at a summit in southwest China's Guizhou Province last week.
"A financial mechanism is the decisive top-down design for green growth. It might be difficult to invest in a green manner at the beginning, but it pays in the long run," said Ma Jun, chief economist with the research bureau under China's central bank.
Chinese banks have been lending more to the green sector. Loans to low-carbon projects reached 7.59 trillion yuan (1.24 trillion U.S. dollars) at the end of 2014, according to the China Banking Association.
"Green finance only accounts for about 2 percent of the world's total investment, but it has certainly helped many countries adjust their economic models," Ma said, pointing to China's potential in this area.
