A new beginning for financial players in China’s carbon markets?

Early February, six Chinese brokers announced that their applications for participation in carbon trading were accepted without objections by the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC), China’s financial authority. Since the launch of the national ETS in June 2021, financial institutions have not been eligible to participate in this scheme. Yet, while only compliance entities in covered power sector have been allowed to access to the national market, the Chinese government has reiterated that the participation of financial actors would be considered at a later stage. In this analyst update, we discuss whether the implied acceptance by CSRC of financial institutions entering the regional carbon markets signals an opening to non-compliance entities also in national emissions trading.