Interpretation of key policies

1. "Guiding Opinions of the State Council on Accelerating the Establishment and Improvement of a Green and Low-Carbon Circular Economic System" February 2021 - State Council

The "Guiding Opinions" take a national perspective, and put forward a blueprint for developing a green and circular economic system, and optimizing industrial structure and green industry development. The "Guiding Opinions" propose support for the development of green bonds, green credit, green financing, and green insurance. They also specifically mention strengthening the performance evaluation of financial institutions, unifying green bond standards, establishing green bond rating standards, supporting the listing of green industries and international green financing of financial institutions, promoting the harmonization of international green finance standards, and systematically advancing the two-way opening-up of green financial markets and climate investment and financing.

2."Notice on Clarifying Carbon Neutral Bond Relevant Mechanisms" March 2021-National Association of Financial Market Institutional Investors

The "Notice" is a special document published by the National Association of Financial Market Institutional Investors (NAFMII) on carbon neutral bonds. It carefully defines the concept of carbon neutral bonds, categorizing such bonds as clean energy projects, clean transportation projects, sustainable buildings, new industrial low-carbon transition projects, and other projects with carbon emission reduction benefits. It also emphasises information disclosure and post-issuance reporting. NAFMII provides a "green channel" to incentivise carbon neutral bonds. The "Notice" also unifies the registration logo, encourages the issuance of medium and long-term products, clarifies the path of changes in existing quotas, and improves the convenience of issuance.

3."Notice of the Nanning Municipal Government on Promulgating Several Policies to Promote the High-quality Development of the Financial Industry in Nanning City" March 2021-Nanning Municipal Government 

This "Notice" specifically states Nanning’s support for enterprises utilizing capital market financing tools. For enterprises issuing green-labelled bonds, the government will award the issuer a subsidy at 4% of the issuance, limited to RMB 1.5 million per single enterprise per year. In addition, the government will evaluate and reward financial institutions’ innovations, including green institutional reforms and innovations. The rewards (up to RMB 800,000) will then be based on the appraisal ranking.

Summary of recent policies

This summary of policies covers: 1) Policies issued by four-level government agencies: state, provinces and ministries, prefectures and cities, and counties in Mainland China. 2) Policies involving green bonds, green credit, green equity, green insurance, environmental finance and monetary policy. 3) Policies released publicly by governments and mainstream media through internet.

Jurisdiction	Title	Purpose	Actor	Publication Date	Link
Nationwide	"Guiding Opinions of the State Council on Accelerating the Establishment and Improvement of a Green and Low-Carbon Circular Economic System"	Stimulating green investment	The State Council	22 Feb, 2021	http://www.gov.cn/zhengce/content/2021-02/22/content_5588274.htm
Nationwide	"Notice on Increased Financial Support to Promote the Healthy and Orderly Development of Wind Power and Photovoltaic Power Generation Industries"	Stimulating lending to renewables	National Development and Reform Commission, Ministry of Finance, People's Bank of China, China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, National Energy Administration	12 Mar, 2021	https://www.ndrc.gov.cn/xxgk/zcfb/tz/202103/t20210312_1269410.html
Nationwide	"Notice on Clarifying Carbon Neutral Bond Relevant Mechanisms"	Standardisation of the green bond market	National Association of Financial Market Institutional Investors	18 Mar, 2021	http://www.nafmii.org.cn/ggtz/tz/202103/t20210318_84911.html
Jiangsu Province	"Notice of the General Office of the People's Government of Jiangsu Province on Issuing the Implementation Plan of the National Urban-Rural Integration Development Pilot Zone (Nanjing-Wuxi-Changzhou adjoining area in Jiangsu Province)"	Establish pilot urban-rural development zone	The General Office of the People’s Government of Jiangsu Province	16 Mar, 2021	http://www.jiangsu.gov.cn/art/2021/3/16/art_46144_9704832.html
Nanning, Guangxi Province	"Notice of Nanning Development and Reform Commission on Promulgating the Green Project Database of Nanning City (First Batch)"	Increase awareness of green projects	The Development and Reform Commission of Nanning City, Guangxi Province	18 Mar, 2021	http://fgw.nanning.gov.cn/fggz/xytxjs/t4683260.html
Nanning, Guangxi Province	" Notice of the Nanning Municipal Government on Promulgating Several Policies to Promote the High-quality Development of the Financial Industry in Nanning City "	Promoting financial innovation	Nanning Municipal Government	18 Mar, 2021	http://www.nanning.gov.cn/zwgk/fdzdgknr/zcwj/zfwj/t4683826.html
Shenzhen, Guangdong Province	"Notice of Shenzhen Municipal Bureau of Ecology and Environment on nicely implementing the Pilot Project of Carbon Emission Trading in 2020"	Emissions trading scheme	Shenzhen Bureau of Ecology and Environment	25 Mar, 2021	http://meeb.sz.gov.cn/xxgk/qt/tzgg/content/post_8649456.html
Sanming, Fujian Province	"Guiding Opinions on Promoting the Green Financial Reform Pilot Project in the Banking and Insurance Industry of Sanming" issued by the Banking and Insurance Regulatory Bureau of Sanming"	Green reform of financial system	The Banking and Insurance Regulatory Bureau of Sanming	29 Mar, 2021	http://www.cbirc.gov.cn/branch/fujian/view/pages/common/ItemDetail.html?docId=973878&itemId=1107
Guangzhou Development District, Guangdong Province	"Notice on organizing the application for fiscal subsidies in Huangpu District and Guangzhou Development District during H1 2021 of the relevant projects such as bank loan interest subsidies"	Subsidies include green loan discount	Bureau of Financial Affairs of Guangzhou Development District	19 Mar, 2021	http://www.hp.gov.cn/gzhpjr/gkmlpt/content/7/7147/post_7147614.html#4843

 

Recommended citation: Climate Bonds Initiative & SynTao Green Finance Monthly Report on Green Finance Polices in China (March 2021)