BEIJING, March 9 (Xinhua) -- Fang Fang, vice chairman of J. P. Morgan Asia Investment Banking division, has proposed that China develop a domestic carbon-trading system as part of its efforts to cut greenhouse gas emissions.
Fang, also a member of the 11th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), made the proposal at the ongoing CPPCC session held in Beijing, China's capital.
In an exclusive interview with Xinhua, Fang said he made the proposal mainly for two reasons.
"The first reason is that China needs to take all kinds of measures to reduce carbon emissions to fulfil its promise to reduce per capita gross domestic product carbon emission levels by 40 to 45 percent by 2020 with the year 2005 as the base year," he said.
The second reason, he added, is that "China must take the initiative to reduce carbon emissions, as climate change has become an issue of significant international concern after the United Nations climate summit held late last year in Copenhagen, Denmark."
The J. P. Morgan senior executive also said that climate change has now become a global issue. Moreover, he added, it may lead to bargains and frictions among major countries. He stressed that it could become another issue related to China's core interests as some Western countries had proposed to levy so-called carbon tariffs against Chinese exports.
He urged relevant government agencies to study how to design China's carbon-trading platform as soon as possible.
