A total of 38 percent of survey respondents believe emission trading is at least moderately affecting investment decisions in China, even as the nation is still running regional pilot programs, a report on China's carbon pricing showed on Wednesday.
The percentage will continue to rise through to 2025, when 75 percent of those surveyed say emission trading will at least affect their investment decisions, according to the 2017 China Carbon Pricing Survey.
The survey was launched as China prepares to upgrade its current pilot carbon trading programs in seven regions to a national one within the year and shortly after the conclusion of the 2017 UN Climate Change Conference in Bonn, Germany earlier this month.
A much higher percentage of those surveyed completed the survey in Chinese, compared with that of the previous surveys, indicating a rise in the number of domestic entities taking part, Dimitri de Boer, vice chairman of China Carbon Forum and a co-author of the study, told a press conference Wednesday.
A nationwide emission trading system (ETS) by China is expected to be launched within the year.
After years of preparation work in mechanism design, infrastructure buildup and research work, the country is ready to launch a nationwide ETS, said Ma Aimin, a Chinese climate official, on Wednesday.
Prices in the national ETS are expected to steadily rise from about 38 yuan ($5.74) per ton of carbon dioxide emitted in 2017, to 74 yuan per ton in 2020 and 108 yuan per ton in 2025, the survey showed.
The survey had 260 respondents from companies, academic institutions, consultancies and NGOs.
Even as the national ETS is scheduled to be launched this year, the majority of respondents believe the ETS will be fully functional in around 2020, according to the survey.
Li Min, China representative of the International Emissions Trading Association, told the Global Times on Wednesday that there will be great differences when a national ETS is put in place.
"For instance, under the pilot program, the allowance quota is determined by the local authority, while in a national one, the central government will be in charge of allocating quotas," Li said, noting that the upgrade to a national trading system is quite complicated.
