Expand new space for green trade in China through institutional innovation
Against the backdrop of profound changes in the global climate governance system and international trade rules, green trade is gradually becoming a key area of international economic and trade competition. In recent years, new trade barriers centered on environmental standards have accelerated their formation, which has put pressure on the export of high carbon intensive products in China and forced the transformation of foreign trade structure towards green and low-carbon. However, the development of green trade in China still faces bottlenecks such as inconsistent carbon accounting standards, insufficient precision in financial and tax support, and poor connection between green equity markets. It is urgent to break down institutional barriers to the development of green trade through standard systems, financial and tax systems, and institutional coordination, and expand new space for the development of green trade in China.
Consolidate the foundation of green trade development through the construction of standard systems
The green low-carbon standard system and its data support capability determine China's rule discourse power and data credibility in participating in international green competition. Developed countries are leveraging their first mover advantage to instrumentalize basic systems such as carbon emission accounting methods and product environmental footprint standards, and building implicit green trade barriers. Technological upgrading cannot resolve the constraints at the regulatory level, and it is urgent to prioritize the construction of standard systems.
One is to enhance the international compatibility of green standard rules. In recent years, the full lifecycle carbon footprint of products has become a key requirement for entering developed country markets. It is necessary to establish a national level coordination mechanism for green trade standards, rely on the platform of the "the Belt and Road" Green Development International Alliance and other platforms, benchmark the International Organization for Standardization and EU environmental footprint standards, accelerate the revision of relevant accounting guidelines, and take the lead in promoting the integration of accounting rules in key industries such as steel, aluminum, batteries, etc. Encouraging leading enterprises to participate in international standard setting and transforming the experience accumulated by companies such as CATL in the EU Battery Alliance into industry models can help build an accounting standard system that is in line with international standards and establish a mutual recognition mechanism, thereby reducing compliance costs for enterprises.
Secondly, digital empowerment enables full process traceability of green standards. The efficient operation of green trade relies on the authenticity and traceability of carbon emission data across the entire supply chain. Build a regulatory model integrating standards and technologies, take the lead in pilot construction of carbon label full life cycle management system in new energy vehicles, lithium batteries, photovoltaic and other fields by relying on the national industrial Internet identity analysis system, use the blockchain to store carbon emission data in all links, and form a traceable carbon passport. At the same time, we will take the lead in establishing a cross-border green data exchange platform and explore pilot projects for carbon emission data exchange with major trading partners. Actively guide third-party testing and certification institutions to enhance their international service capabilities.
The third is to establish a sound data foundation for green standards. The precise management of green trade relies on the quality of underlying data. At present, the carbon emission factor database in China's basic industrial sector is not yet perfect, lacking unified collection standards and dynamic update mechanisms. Carbon accounting often faces the dilemma of uncertainty and inability to transmit. Build data infrastructure as a strategic public good, with the National Bureau of Statistics leading the launch of the China Industrial Product Carbon Emission Factor Database Project. Establish a dynamic database covering major export products and regularly update it to promote mutual recognition and benchmarking with international mainstream databases. Promote the digital carbon management collaboration platform at the supply chain level, guide leading enterprises in automobile, electronics, textile and other industries to build an industrial carbon data sharing platform based on the industrial Internet identity resolution node, realize the carbon data connection from raw material mining to production and manufacturing, and provide a solid data base for the accounting, certification and international mutual recognition of green trade.
Innovating financial and tax systems to stimulate the development of green trade
Green products generally face contradictions such as high initial investment, high international compliance costs, and long market premium realization cycles, making it difficult for enterprises to independently digest the cost pressure brought by "green premiums". The fiscal and taxation system plays a role in cost buffering and driving force stimulation in the development of green trade. Fiscal and tax policies need to shift from fragmented support to systematic empowerment, covering the entire chain of research and development, production, export, and compliance, and reducing the institutional transaction costs of green trade.
One is to improve the tax regulation mechanism for green trade. The international competitiveness of green products relies on stable and expected tax policy support. At present, there is a fragmented phenomenon in tax support policies, with a lack of synergy between export tax rebates, income tax incentives, and environmental protection taxes. Some policies have unclear definitions of green attributes. It is urgent to establish a precise tax support system, implement differentiated export tax rebates, and link the results of enterprise environmental credit evaluation with the classification management of export tax rebates; Establish special tax credits to allow enterprises to deduct compliance expenses such as carbon footprint verification fees and international certification fees incurred in response to international carbon tariffs from their taxable income; Establish a carbon tariff refund mechanism to provide corresponding tax deductions for products that have already borne explicit carbon costs domestically when exporting, forming a cost buffering mechanism covering the entire chain of research and development, production, export, and compliance.
The second is to innovate the green trade financial support system. The development of green trade cannot be separated from financial innovation support. Policy oriented financial institutions need to establish special green trade transformation loans, which will be given preferential interest rates and subsidized by the government based on internationally recognized environmental product declaration reports provided by enterprises; Expand the application of green bonds in the field of trade; Explore the establishment of a green trade insurance mechanism, leverage the role of policy based insurance institutions, develop special insurance products for carbon tariff risks, incorporate enterprise carbon efficiency levels into the export credit insurance premium rate evaluation system, provide preferential rates for low-carbon enterprises, and form a financial support loop covering the entire process of financing, guarantee, and insurance.
The third is to improve the financial and tax support system for green trade public services. Small and medium-sized enterprises are the foundation of China's foreign trade, and generally face green thresholds such as insufficient carbon accounting capabilities and high international certification costs. Innovation in the fiscal and taxation system needs to reflect inclusiveness and fallback, establish a special fund for green trade public services, and build a national green trade public service platform proportionally supported by the central and local finance departments, integrate relevant institutional data, and provide free services such as green policy warning, carbon footprint calculation tools, and international certification lists; Implementing the Green Navigation Plan for Small and Medium sized Enterprises, the business department, in collaboration with universities and leading foreign trade enterprises, provides guidance on carbon management system construction for specialized, refined, and innovative enterprises through government procurement services; Establish a green trade technical trade measure evaluation base, organize industry experts, legal advisors, and affected enterprises to conduct early evaluations on the draft of European and American green technology regulations, and raise our concerns through relevant mechanisms. Move the response threshold to the rule brewing period and narrow the gap in green transformation capabilities between large and small and medium-sized enterprises.
Strengthening the support of green trade elements through institutional collaborative innovation
Institutional synergy is related to the integration and release of green elements and overall efficiency. Green trade involves multiple systems such as energy, carbon markets, finance, and regulation, and breakthroughs in a single field often result in diminishing efficiency due to poor connectivity between systems. At present, there are problems such as the lack of deduction rules for green electricity in the carbon market, a vacuum in cross departmental supervision, and a lack of channels for realizing carbon assets. It is urgent to use institutional coordination to break through the bottlenecks in the circulation of green elements.
One is to improve the linkage mechanism between green electricity and carbon trading markets. The proportion of green electricity usage and the degree of internalization of carbon reduction costs are key variables for green trade competitiveness. Due to the current lack of effective connection between green electricity trading and the carbon market, the cost of purchasing green electricity by enterprises cannot be converted into actual emissions reduction contributions. It is suggested that relevant departments introduce regulations on the connection between green certificates and carbon emission trading, clarifying that the corresponding emission reduction amount of green certificates purchased by key emission units can be deducted from the national carbon market performance. For export-oriented industrial clusters such as the Yangtze River Delta and the Pearl River Delta, we will pilot the implementation of a green electricity direct supply and carbon accounting park model, allowing enterprises in the park to carry out distributed green electricity market-oriented transactions, establish electricity carbon data accounts, and achieve accurate traceability of electricity sources and real-time accounting of carbon emissions. Promote the alignment of carbon accounting rules with international standards, clarify that under conditions such as signing long-term power purchase agreements, export enterprises are allowed to adopt project-based actual emission factors, so that green electricity input can be substantially offset in international carbon tariff accounting, forming a comparative advantage based on real low-carbon costs.
The second is to establish a cross departmental collaborative mechanism for standards, supervision, and services. Green trade involves multiple departments with overlapping functions. It is recommended to establish a national level cross departmental inter ministerial joint conference system for green trade, regularly review the bottlenecks in the classification, certification, inspection and quarantine of green products, and release an annual action plan for green trade facilitation. Promote the upgrading of the single window function in the field of green trade, embed functional modules such as product carbon footprint declaration, automatic comparison of environmental permits, and issuance of green certificates of origin on the basis of the existing international trade single window, and achieve instant release of low-risk green products and precise control of high-risk products through big data analysis. Establish a sandbox regulatory mechanism for the export of cutting-edge green technology products such as hydrogen energy, carbon capture, utilization, and storage. In the pilot free trade zone, enterprises are allowed to break through existing management norms for trial exports under controllable risks. Regulatory authorities will dynamically adjust policies to reduce the institutional transaction costs of cross-border flow of green products.
The third is to establish a collaborative mechanism between carbon finance and carbon market. China has not yet established a corporate carbon credit system that is linked to green trade, and the carbon assets formed by corporate carbon emissions reduction lack fair market pricing and smooth channels for realization. It is urgent to establish a complete carbon asset management and credit conversion mechanism. Establish a system for evaluating and publicizing corporate carbon credit, with relevant departments incorporating information on corporate carbon emission reduction performance, carbon market performance, product carbon footprint, etc. into the financial credit information database to form a carbon credit report as a reference for bank credit, bond issuance, and export credit insurance; Pilot the implementation of carbon asset pledge financing for export enterprises, allowing them to use carbon quotas, verified voluntary emission reductions, and other carbon assets as collateral to apply for special loans, and opening up a channel for the conversion of carbon assets into working capital; Explore the establishment of a green trade carbon credit system, where enterprises can use carbon credits to offset export costs or exchange for public service resources. At the same time, strengthen the cultivation of professional intermediary institutions for carbon asset management, standardize carbon asset evaluation, consulting, custody and other markets, and transform enterprise green investment into quantifiable and monetizable carbon assets.