Business Sentiments Survey of China’s Low-Carbon and Energy Policies

The report analyzes a survey of 230 manufacturing companies across 16 Chinese provinces to evaluate how businesses interact with low-carbon and energy policies. It finds that while flagship programs like carbon-trading pilots have significant reach, there is a critical lack of policy awareness and technical capacity, particularly among small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Major barriers to implementation include uncertainty regarding technology, lack of capital, and high administrative burdens caused by overlapping government jurisdictions. The document recommends streamlining administrative procedures, increasing transparency in carbon quota allocations, and lowering participation thresholds for subsidies to better include smaller firms.

• There is a significant gap in energy and greenhouse gas (GHG) management systems among smaller firms; while 82% of large energy-using facilities (>10,000 tonnes of coal equivalent) have energy targets, this drops to less than 20% for facilities using less than 5,000 tonnes annually.
• GHG inventory adoption is low across the sample, with 61% of companies having no GHG emission inventory in place. Reasons for this include lack of expertise, concerns over data confidentiality, and a perception that GHG reporting is a low government priority.
• Policy awareness is generally low, with only 19% of enterprises reporting they are familiar with low-carbon and energy policies, and 26% stating they do not understand the policy mix at all. Awareness levels decrease as firm size decreases.
• Businesses identify three primary barriers to implementing low-carbon projects: technical uncertainty (affecting 50% of the sample), inadequate or unpredictable government incentives (35%), and a lack of financial capital (35%).
• High administrative transaction costs are a major deterrent, with 33% of respondents citing the burden of reporting the same or similar data to multiple government departments and jurisdictions.
• Companies express a strong preference for economic instruments over regulatory ones, with 54% desiring subsidized loans to reduce the long payback periods associated with energy-saving and low-carbon technologies.
• There are concerns regarding the fairness and transparency of pilot carbon-trading schemes, specifically that power plants received large free quota allocations while some high-performing manufacturers were forced to buy permits.

APA

Tao, P., Yu, G., & Sawyer, D. (2015). Business Sentiments Survey of China’s Low-Carbon and Energy Policies. International Institute for Sustainable Development. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/business-sentiments-survey-china-low-carbon-energy-policies-en.pdf

Chicago

Tao, Pan, Geng Yu, and Dave Sawyer. Business Sentiments Survey of China’s Low-Carbon and Energy Policies. International Institute for Sustainable Development, 2015. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/business-sentiments-survey-china-low-carbon-energy-policies-en.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Tao |first1=Pan |last2=Yu |first2=Geng |last3=Sawyer |first3=Dave |title=Business Sentiments Survey of China’s Low-Carbon and Energy Policies |publisher=International Institute for Sustainable Development |date=March 2015 |url=https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/business-sentiments-survey-china-low-carbon-energy-policies-en.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{tao2015business, author = {Tao, Pan and Yu, Geng and Sawyer, Dave}, title = {{Business Sentiments Survey of China’s Low-Carbon and Energy Policies}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2015}, month = mar, url = {https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/business-sentiments-survey-china-low-carbon-energy-policies-en.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }