BEIJING- China's long-awaited national carbon emissions trading scheme (ETS) will launch online by end-June this year, according to a statement issued by the Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE) on Sunday night.

During a visit to Hubei province and Shanghai city, MEE minister Huang Runqiu urged local officials to carry out full-scale testing and implementation of the trading system as soon as possible, the statement said, in order to ensure the online trading can be launched before the end of June this year.

China has set up the trading platform of the national ETS in Shanghai and the registry platform in Wuhan city in Hubei.

The nationwide scheme has been delayed repeatedly, partly due to concerns over the accuracy and transparency of emissions data. But President Xi Jinping's pledges to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060, and to cap carbon emissions at a peak by 2030, have moved the ETS higher up the government's agenda.

 

(Reporting by Muyu Xu and Shivani Singh; Editing by Kenneth Maxwell) ((muyu.xu@thomsonreuters.com; +86 10 56692117;))