China Issues Opinions on Promoting the Development of the Market of Green Electricity Certificate (GEC) 
On March 6, 2025, five central administrative agencies, including the National Development and Reform Commission of China, issued the “Opinions on Promoting the Development of the Green Electricity Certificate (GEC) Market.” These opinions outline the goals for the development of the green electricity certificate market by 2030, measures to stabilize market supply, stimulate demand for green electricity certificates, improve the green electricity certificate trading system, expand the scope of green electricity certificate usage, and promote the internationalization of green electricity certificates. Among the measures to stimulate demand for green electricity certificates are the gradual implementation of a mandatory framework for green electricity certificates, the inclusion of green electricity usage information in the Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) reports of listed companies, and the addition of green electricity usage requirements to green product evaluation standards.
Implementation Goals
The opinions present the following goals for 2027 and 2030:
- By 2027, establish a basic green electricity certificate market trading system, further develop a mechanism combining mandatory and voluntary green electricity usage, and build systems for calculating, certifying, and labeling green electricity usage.
- By 2030, further improve the green electricity certificate market system, significantly increase the overall demand for green electricity usage in society and ensure the efficient and orderly operation of the green electricity certificate market.
Market Supply Stabilization Measures
Measures to stabilize market supply include the automatic issuance of green electricity certificates, expanding the scale of green electricity transactions through the participation of renewable energy sources such as wind power, solar power, and biomass power, and supporting the inter-provincial circulation of green electricity certificates.
Measures to Stimulate Demand for Green Electricity
The following three methods are proposed to stimulate demand for green electricity certificates:
- Clarification of Mandatory Green electricity Usage Requirements
Steadily promote mandatory green electricity usage and gradually increase the proportion of green electricity usage. Accelerate the increase in the proportion of green electricity consumption in industries such as steel, non-ferrous metals, building materials, petrochemicals, and chemicals, as well as in data centers and other major energy-consuming enterprises. Include green electricity usage information in the ESG reports of listed companies. - Development of a Voluntary Green electricity Usage Framework
Encourage companies to voluntarily disclose their green electricity usage. Promote the annual increase in the proportion of green electricity consumption by leading industry companies, multinational corporations, and export-oriented enterprises, and support corporate green transformation. - Development of Related Financial and Fiscal Support Measures
Incorporate green electricity usage requirements into green product evaluation standards and consider government procurement and support measures for green products.
Improvement of the Green Electricity Certificate Trading System
Establish the price framework for the green electricity certificate market, improve the green electricity certificate trading system and the green electricity trading system, and ensure the stabilization of green electricity certificate prices and smooth trading of green electricity certificates and green electricity.
Expansion of the Scope of Green Electricity Certificate Usage
Examine standards related to green electricity certificates and promote the integration of green electricity certificates with carbon emission calculations for key industry enterprises and carbon footprint calculation standards for key products.
The original text of the above opinions can be viewed at the following URL (in Simplified Chinese):
https://www.ndrc.gov.cn/xwdt/tzgg/202503/t20250318_1396628.html
