BEIJING: China will set up the trading platform of its long-awaited nationwide emission trade scheme (ETS) in Shanghai and the registry platform in the central city of Wuhan, the environment minister on Sunday.

The scheme is expected to cover 2,267 power plants across China in its first phase and encourage firms to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions through buying and selling emission permits.

Shanghai and Wuhan are among seven cities that have carried out pilot trading schemes since 2011.

The nationwide scheme has been repeatedly delayed, due partly to concerns over the accuracy and transparency of emissions data.

“We will allocate the carbon emission allowances to the companies within a short time ...and will carry out the first online emission trading as soon as possible,” Huang Runqiu, minister of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, told state television.

President Xi Jinping’s pledge to bring China’s carbon emission to a peak before 2030 and to reach carbon neutrality around 2060 has moved the ETS up on the government’s agenda. The environment ministry is speeding up plan making and will coordinate carbon reduction and pollution treatment, Huang said.