Green growth high on leadership agenda
The great importance that the leadership attaches to environmental protection has already led to policy changes and enhanced government supervision.
Smokestack industries that supported China industrialization will have to improve their production efficiency and adapt to new economic development trends, experts said.
The central government will improve mechanisms and send more inspection teams to encourage enterprises to cut pollution, according to Bie Tao, head of Policy and Law Department at the Ministry of Environmental Protection.
“The central government’s moves will change local government’s incentives to spur growth, relying less on the economic contribution from highly polluting enterprises,” said Zhang Ning, an economist with UBS Investment Bank.
“Enterprises will have to scale back production of highgrowth, ly polluted products to meet emission standards, otherwise they will be shut down.”
Some economic policy tools play similar roles to encourage enterprises to reduce pollution, such as the environmental protection tax to be collected starting from next year.
From Jan 1, large chemical and energy firms will end up paying several times more than before for causing pollution.
While the government may make adjustment to policies to prevent tailing off of enterprises profits that may drive down the tightened regulation on environmental protection is expected to become a “new normal,” which means the government will not lose grip on regulating environmental protection, according to Zhang.
In the meantime, introducing a nationwide carbon market added urgency for enterprises to adapt to the new economic development trend, according to Zou Ji, president of Energy Foundation China.
Enterprises producing 26,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide or more annually will be included in the nationwide carbon market, where firms are able to trade an allowance for emissions to minimize their costs.
Some enterprises in lowcarbon and clean energy industries are expected to soon receive benefits from the national trading scheme, according to Zou.