China's MEE rolls out guidance for national carbon market trading in 2026

China's Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE) has released key operational guidance for provincial and regional environment bureaus to manage the national carbon emissions trading system (ETS) in 2026, with a focus on strengthening data integrity and carbon quota allocation and settlement.

Officially launched in July 2021, China's ETS currently covers four emission-intensive sectors: coal-fired power generation, steel, cement and aluminum. The latter three were included only in March last year, as reported. Together, these sectors account for around 60% of the country's total carbon emissions, according to official data. Provincial and