China’s Ministry of Ecology and Environment has revealed that the country would create additional market mechanisms to incentivize businesses to quicken their transitions to a green, low-carbon economy.
The ministry has released several environmental protection measures in recent years to direct and inspire a green economic transformation.
Speaking at a news conference on Tuesday, Sun Shouliang, director of the ministry’s comprehensive department, said the results of these measures have been gradually manifesting.
He said that companies all around the nation that reduced their pollution levels below national requirements during the last three years have benefited from tax breaks of more than 13 billion yuan ($1.9 billion).
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He added that the ministry has managed to incorporate 16 types of environmentally friendly projects, including carbon capture, use and storage, as well as nine types related to the comprehensive use of resources into the national list of programmes in which enterprises can participate to receive tax cuts.
The ministry and other government entities have identified 48 project categories that contribute to national climate targets as those that enjoy preferential financing policies in their attempts to create pilot zones to improve the green financing system.
Shouliang said companies engaged in such projects may take advantage of preferential policies, adding that most are considered urgent tasks and will require more funding from companies to complete.
He emphasized the mandated disclosure of environmental data as a tool the ministry intends to use more frequently, adding that local authorities have identified 85,000 enterprises that must publish environmental impact data this year as part of an effort to adopt a national guideline on the necessary distribution of environmental information.
Story was adapted from China Daily.
