SHANGHAI: China shares closed lower on Wednesday, led by coal miners following Beijing’s latest move to address skyrocketing prices, while environmental protection-related companies advanced on the country’s plans to hit a carbon emission peak before 2030.
The blue-chip CSI300 index ended down 1.3% to 4,898.16, while the Shanghai Composite Index lost 1% to 3,562.31 points.
The coal sub-index and the energy sub-index slumped 4.2% and 3.2%, respectively.
China said it will conduct “clean up and rectification” work on coal storage sites in some coal-producing areas and ban storage sites without approvals in its latest move to address skyrocketing coal prices.
Consumer staples, healthcare shares and semiconductors lost between 1.2% and 1.8%.
The environmental protection industry index, the new energy index, and the new energy vehicles index went up more than 2% each.
China’s cabinet said the country will take action to reduce waste, promote renewables and unconventional fuel, and reform its electricity network as part of its plan to bring carbon emissions to a peak before 2030.
China Merchants Securities said in a note that fossil fuels used in power generating are still a main source of carbon emission, while using new energy is the fundamental to achieve carbon neutrality, which is also a theme of development in the coming decades.
Separately, data shows profit at China’s industrial firms rose at a faster pace in September despite surging prices and supply bottlenecks.
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