BEIJING: China is targeting the launch of a nationwide emissions trading scheme during the period from 2021 to 2025, the top climate official said on Wednesday, signalling another delay to the long-awaited carbon trading platform.

Technical problems and concerns over the accuracy and transparency of emissions data have dogged the system, whose first phase, covering the power sector, had been expected to launch this year.

“The (2021-2025) 14th five-year plan is a big development period for the establishment of carbon trading,” Li Gao, head of the climate change office at the ecology and environment ministry, told a briefing.

The national trading system was originally pledged by President Xi Jinping ahead of the Paris climate accord in 2015.