Roadmap for China: Scaling up GREEN BOND market Issuance

The report outlines a strategy to expand China's green bond market, emphasizing the need for private capital to meet an annual environmental investment requirement of RMB 2-4 trillion. It identifies key barriers, including limited issuer knowledge and the lack of a long-term project pipeline, and recommends strategic demonstration issuances from policy banks, commercial banks, and state-owned enterprises to build market liquidity and confidence.

• China requires an annual investment of RMB 2-4 trillion (USD 320-640 billion) to address climate change and environmental issues, with the private sector expected to provide 85% to 90% of this funding.
• The foundations for the market were established through official guidelines from the People's Bank of China (PBoC) in December 2015, the National Development & Reform Commission (NDRC), and the Shanghai Stock Exchange.
• The opening of China's interbank market to foreign investors in February 2016, which removed all quotas for qualifying institutional investors, is expected to boost green bond market growth.
• A significant immediate opportunity for green bond issuance exists in refinancing existing green loan portfolios held by large commercial banks, which totaled RMB 5.72 trillion (USD 920 billion) in 2014.
• The report identifies several barriers to scaling the market: a lack of demonstration issuance across diverse sectors, limited issuer knowledge of the process, low market liquidity, and the absence of a transparent, long-term pipeline of qualifying green projects.
• Strategic demonstration issuance should be encouraged from a wide range of entities, including policy banks (CDB, ADBC, and Export-Import Bank of China), large commercial banks, non-financial state-owned enterprises (SOEs), and municipalities.
• The PBoC is exploring 'back-labelling' existing bonds that meet green criteria but were not labelled at issuance, which could rapidly increase market size and liquidity; for example, RMB 1.1 trillion in China Railway bonds may qualify.
• To build a long-term pipeline, the report suggests integrating the identification of green assets earlier in the infrastructure planning process and utilizing the Green Bond Endorsed Project Catalogue.
• The report recommends that China join the Green Infrastructure Investment Coalition (GIIC) to increase transparency and engagement with international institutional investors.

APA

(Lily), W. D., Kidney, S., & Sonerud, B. (2016). Roadmap for China: Scaling up GREEN BOND market Issuance. International Institute for Sustainable Development. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/scaling-up-green-bond-market-issuance-en.pdf

Chicago

(Lily), Weihui Dai, Sean Kidney, and Beate Sonerud. Roadmap for China: Scaling up GREEN BOND market Issuance. International Institute for Sustainable Development, 2016. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/scaling-up-green-bond-market-issuance-en.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=(Lily) |first1=Weihui Dai |last2=Kidney |first2=Sean |last3=Sonerud |first3=Beate |title=Roadmap for China: Scaling up GREEN BOND market Issuance |publisher=International Institute for Sustainable Development |date=April 2016 |url=https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/scaling-up-green-bond-market-issuance-en.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{lily2016roadmap, author = {(Lily), Weihui Dai and Kidney, Sean and Sonerud, Beate}, title = {{Roadmap for China: Scaling up GREEN BOND market Issuance}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2016}, month = apr, url = {https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/scaling-up-green-bond-market-issuance-en.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }