State Grid employees check solar power panels in the Tibet autonomous region. [Photo by Song Weixing/For China Daily]

China's national carbon trading market started online trading on July 16, a significant step to help the country reduce its carbon footprint and meet emission targets, according to the Ministry of Ecology and Environment.

7月16日，全国碳排放权交易市场启动上线交易。生态环境部表示，这是帮助中国减少碳足迹、实现排放目标的重要一步。

Trading began at 9:30 a.m. at the Shanghai Environment and Energy Exchange with the opening price for the carbon quota at 48 yuan (7.4 U.S. dollars) per tonne.

上午9:30，上海环境能源交易所正式开市，碳排放配额的开盘价为48元（7.4美元）/吨。

Carbon emissions by more than 2,000 power companies covered in the first batch of trading are estimated to exceed 4 billion tonnes per year, making the market the world's largest in terms of the amount of greenhouse gas emissions covered.

经测算，纳入首批碳交易市场覆盖的2000多家发电企业的碳排放量超过40亿吨，使得该市场成为全球覆盖温室气体排放量规模最大的碳市场。

China's national carbon trading market was launched in 2017 after a pilot operation in seven provincial regions in 2011. The idea behind its launch was to explore market-based mechanisms to control greenhouse gas emissions. 

经2011年起在7个省级地区进行试点后，全国碳排放权交易市场于2017年启动，目的是探索以市场为基础来控制温室气体排放的机制。

It is also expected to be an important scheme for China to realize the goal of peaking carbon dioxide emissions by 2030 and achieving carbon neutrality by 2060.

建立全国碳交易市场也是中国实现2030年二氧化碳排放达到峰值、2060年实现碳中和目标的重要方案。

carbon footprint  碳足迹

carbon neutrality  碳中和 （请戳往期链接）

carbon finance  碳金融  （请戳往期链接）

green development  绿色发展 （请戳往期链接）

low-carbon development  低碳发展 （请戳往期链接）

ecological civilization  生态文明 （请戳往期链接）

Collected by Lv Yun, Wu Qin (intern)

Edited by Lv Yun

Sources: Xinhua, CGTN

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