Green elements are deeply embedded in global trade rules, and a global green trade system is taking shape. The international trade landscape is undergoing an irreversible green transformation, shifting sustainability from a principle to a core factor in market access and competition. Amid this process, which presents both opportunities and challenges like "green protectionism," China is emerging as an active builder and contributor to the global green trade system, leveraging its industrial strengths and rule-making participation. On October 30, China's Ministry of Commerce issued the "Implementation Opinions on Expanding Green Trade" (hereafter referred to as the "Opinions"), signaling China's accelerated role in this new paradigm.
### I. The "Opinions" Align with Global Green Trade Trends and China's Role The global green transition is evolving from conceptual consensus to institutional construction. Facing challenges like climate change, biodiversity loss, and resource constraints, the international community increasingly recognizes that trade systems must not only drive economic growth but also support sustainable development. Against this backdrop, green elements are being integrated into global trade rules, shaping a new green trade framework.
This shift is first reflected in the rebalancing of values at the international trade level. Historically, trade principles emphasized market efficiency and resource optimization, prioritizing freedom, non-discrimination, transparency, and fair competition. However, sustainability is now being elevated as a normative goal on par with fairness and openness. For instance, discussions within the World Trade Organization (WTO) increasingly stress aligning trade rules with the Paris Agreement and the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda, indicating that "green" is transitioning from policy choice to institutional arrangement.
These principle-level changes are translating into concrete rules, influencing market access, product standards, and supply chain management. Practices like incorporating carbon emissions into trade considerations (e.g., the EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, CBAM) are growing, while environmental disclosures, lifecycle assessments, and green certifications are being integrated into trade policies worldwide. Carbon footprints are rapidly becoming a competitive factor alongside price and quality. This trend suggests that global trade will inevitably restructure around green standards, technologies, and supply chains.
Globally, this shift aids climate governance, fostering green technology diffusion, investment upgrades, and low-carbon industry expansion. However, overly aggressive measures risk institutional spillover, inequity, and trade friction. For example, if developed nations impose unilaterally high standards or extend domestic policies internationally, green trade could devolve into "green protectionism," undermining developing nations' rights and hindering global progress. Thus, building an inclusive and gradual green trade system is essential—strengthening multilateral consultations to ensure participation across development stages and promoting green capacity-building and technical cooperation for shared benefits.
Conversely, rejecting green trade reforms is untenable. For instance, policy reversals in some nations, driven by anti-globalization and high-carbon agendas, not only impede industrial modernization but also steepen global decarbonization costs. In short, the green transition is irreversible, and trade systems must adapt to support it.
In this context, China plays a unique and pivotal role. As a steadfast practitioner of green transition, China has built scale advantages in renewables, energy storage, and new energy vehicles, powering global green supply chains. Simultaneously, it actively shapes international rules, advancing cooperation in green standards, finance, and industrial chains—transforming from a passive recipient to an active contributor.
### II. The "Opinions" Are Grounded in Practical and Institutional Foundations China has progressively established a domestic green transition policy framework, spanning product standards, green manufacturing, financial systems, and carbon markets. This system not only underpins China’s green development but also facilitates integration into global green trade rules.
**Product Level**: Carbon footprint management and standards are accelerating. Since May 2024, China has rolled out national standards like the "Guidelines for Greenhouse Gas Product Carbon Footprint Quantification (GB/T 24067-2024)" and launched a national emissions factor database. Pilot carbon footprint labeling covers export-oriented sectors like photovoltaics, lithium batteries, and steel.
**Industrial Level**: Zero-carbon industrial parks and direct green power procurement are key drivers. Policies in 2025 systematized corporate participation in green energy development, while zero-carbon park initiatives prioritize energy structure transitions, enabling localized green manufacturing.
**Financial Level**: China is refining green finance standards, excluding fossil fuels and labeling carbon-reduction activities. Transition finance pilots in steel, coal power, and agriculture have disbursed ¥66.8 billion in loans. Biodiversity finance frameworks are also underway.
**Market Level**: Carbon markets and green certificate systems are strengthening. The national carbon market now covers 60% of CO₂ emissions, with quota allocations becoming more market-driven. Green power trading surged to 234.9 billion kWh in 2024, up 237.9% year-on-year.
Domestic firms are adapting swiftly. Manufacturers like CATL and JinkoSolar are enhancing carbon footprint tracking, while financial institutions innovate carbon-linked loans, such as Weihai Bank’s "Green Factory + CBAM" financing.
### III. The "Opinions" Embody Global Green Transition and China’s Vision The "Opinions" mark China’s deeper alignment of domestic green policies with international trade, shifting from bolstering green manufacturing to shaping global green advantages.
**Product Focus**: The policy emphasizes lifecycle decarbonization, urging green design, renewable energy use, and recycled materials. It targets sectors like EVs and solar to solidify China’s competitive edge while fostering new trade growth areas like green hydrogen.
**Standards Integration**: China aims to harmonize its carbon footprint databases and standards internationally, with 86% of international standards already adopted domestically by September 2025.
**Industrial Linkages**: Green energy systems are being tied to export supply chains, with zero-carbon parks and direct green power procurement expanding to trade-oriented zones.
**Financial Support**: Green finance now spans production to consumption, with export credit insurance incentivizing low-carbon exports.
**Market Rules**: The policy promotes international recognition of China’s carbon pricing and green certificates, enhancing transparency and competitiveness for exporters.
Strategically, the "Opinions" reflect China’s evolving role in global green governance. As green rules transition from policy to institutionalization, China advocates inclusive multilateralism via G20, BRICS, and APEC, aiming to bridge developed-developing nation divides.
The global green trade system’s formation is a pivotal step toward sustainable governance—requiring cooperation, inclusivity, and steady progress. China will continue contributing constructively, partnering globally for a greener, more resilient economy.
*(Author: Chen Ji, Managing Director and Head of Green Economy at CICC Research)*
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