National People's Congress Representative, Party Committee Secretary and President of the Henan Branch of the People's Bank of China Wang Jun: Accelerate the Top-level Design of the National Carbon Emissions Trading Market

During the 2026 National People’s Congress and Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, National People’s Congress deputy and Secretary of the Party Committee and President of the People’s Bank of China Henan Branch Wang Juntan proposed suggestions on accelerating the sound development of resource and environmental factor trading markets and financial support systems, as well as improving the supervision and accountability mechanisms for local hidden debts. Wang Juntan stated that efforts should be made to accelerate the improvement of the environment and conditions for financial institutions to participate in resource and environmental factor trading market development, and to solidify the market foundation for resource and environmental assetization.

Currently, China has established the national carbon emission rights trading market, the voluntary greenhouse gas emission reduction trading market, and the China Water Rights Exchange. Pilot programs for trading carbon emission rights, water use rights, energy use rights, and pollution discharge rights have been deployed in relevant regions, achieving positive progress.

“China’s resource and environmental factor marketization process is at a critical initial stage, and there is still vast potential for market function development,” Wang Juntan said. Strengthening the financial support system is an important part of enhancing the foundational capacity of resource and environmental factor trading. By actively and prudently promoting the participation of financial institutions in market development, developing suitable green financial products and services, and opening up the transformation channels between ‘resources—assets—capital,’ more social capital can be mobilized into green and low-carbon fields. This is of great and far-reaching significance for promoting smooth flow and efficient allocation of resource and environmental factors, fully releasing market potential, and strengthening support for achieving related resource and environmental goals.

Wang Juntan pointed out that the current market-based trading mechanism for resource and environmental factors is not yet sound, and the integration of market development and financial services still faces some constraints, mainly reflected in “three mismatches”: the level of market development does not match potential financing needs, with the phenomenon of “asset idleness” still quite common; the supply of financial products does not match the demands of market entities, and service mode innovation is insufficient; the incentive and restraint mechanisms do not match market cultivation goals, and policy synergy has not yet been fully formed.

To fully leverage financial support, Wang Juntan suggested efforts from multiple angles, including market foundation, incentive mechanisms, and product design, to accelerate the improvement of the environment and conditions for financial institutions to participate in resource and environmental factor trading market development.

In terms of market foundation, efforts should be made to solidify the market basis for resource and environmental assetization. Building a unified national platform for registration and settlement of resource and environmental rights can realize unified confirmation, registration, change, cancellation, and pledge disclosure of various resource and environmental factors, improving market transparency. Improving the valuation system for factors, actively cultivating third-party professional evaluation agencies, and introducing advanced technologies such as big data and blockchain can enhance the scientificity and credibility of assessments.

Regarding incentive mechanisms, efforts should be made to improve risk-sharing mechanisms supporting the development of resource and environmental factor trading markets. Local governments are encouraged to establish regional resource and environmental factor financing risk compensation funds for pollution discharge, water use, and other areas, providing certain risk compensation for related non-performing loans. Improving government financing guarantee systems by including resource and environmental rights pledge loans within the scope of government guarantees, reducing guarantee fees, and providing risk sharing for qualified green guarantee businesses.

In product design, financial institutions are encouraged to increase innovation in product and service offerings. Financial institutions are encouraged and guided to include resource and environmental rights as eligible collateral, and under controllable risk and sustainable business conditions, vigorously promote specialized credit products such as “pollution discharge rights loans,” “water use rights loans,” and “carbon emission rights pledge loans.” Supporting qualified enterprises and financial institutions to issue green bonds, carbon-neutral bonds, and other bonds, with funds raised specifically for pollution control and ecological restoration.

During this year’s National People’s Congress and Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, Wang Juntan also focused on preventing and resolving local hidden debts. He pointed out that, at this stage, when the risk resolution of local hidden debts is concentrated, it is urgent to improve the supervision and accountability mechanisms for local hidden debts from the institutional level, promote local governments to identify, report, and dispose of hidden debts in accordance with laws and regulations comprehensively and objectively, and firmly guard against systemic regional risks.

For a long time, some regions have overly relied on borrowing to fund projects and promote development, resulting in a chaotic growth pattern that emphasizes investment over efficiency, construction over debt repayment, and short-term gains over long-term benefits. Wang Juntan said that improving the supervision and accountability system for local hidden debts is conducive to strengthening full-process supervision of fund use, asset disposal, and progress and effectiveness, strictly investigating issues such as false debt resolution, illegal operations, and dereliction of duty, ensuring that central debt relief policies are accurately and normatively implemented, and preventing new hidden debts while stabilizing existing ones.

He suggested accurately identifying and scientifically disposing of local hidden debts. From the national level, the classification and recognition guidelines for hidden debts should be improved, standardizing the criteria, scope, and procedures for recognition. Based on project nature, debt repayment sources, and risk levels, hidden debts should be classified scientifically, and effective measures such as debt repayment, debt restructuring, debt swapping, and asset revitalization should be taken in accordance with laws and regulations to resolve them. The practice of false debt resolution and digital debt should be strictly prohibited.

“Building a multi-level, all-round debt supervision system is necessary,” Wang Juntan said. Fiscal authorities should earnestly fulfill their responsibilities as debt management entities, strictly implement the entire chain of supervision responsibilities including statistical monitoring, budget constraints, and debt resolution, to ensure clear debt figures and prevent new debts while resolving existing ones. Breaking down departmental information barriers and establishing information sharing and collaborative supervision mechanisms among finance, banking, auditing, and discipline inspection departments can form a closed-loop supervision process of “discovery, verification, accountability, and rectification.”

He also recommended establishing a strict and standardized debt accountability mechanism. Building on existing accountability measures, legal and institutional frameworks should be improved rapidly to form comprehensive, systematic, and operational rules for local hidden debt accountability, thereby tightening the responsibility chain for local hidden debts.