(Yicai Global) Aug. 6 -- China Construction Bank’s branch in Guangdong province and Singaporean conglomerate Royal Golden Eagle recently signed an agreement on the first foreign-owned carbon asset pledge in China.

The two parties agreed to work together on research and innovation in carbon finance products and derivatives such as carbon emission rights mortgages and pledge financing, carbon trading, carbon bonds and carbon funds.

Last month RGE and the Jiangsu province branch of Bank of Communications also inked a cooperation deal on carbon emission trading funds custody in the Chinese city of Nanjing, the first foreign-owned carbon asset custody deal in the country.

The two deals, signed within two weeks of the start of China’s carbon emissions trading market, will bring into full play the role of carbon emissions trading between financial capital and the real economy, according to industry observers.

“The carbon finance cooperation agreement will further deepen the relationship between the two parties, bringing us to the ‘honeymoon period’ in traditional credit, green finance, and cross-border finance,” Deng Bo, deputy general manager of CCB’s Guangdong branch, said at the signing ceremony.

“CCB will continue to fulfill its responsibilities as a large state-owned bank and leverage its advantages in comprehensive operations to provide more comprehensive and higher-quality financial services for RGE, facilitating high-quality business development for the company in China,” he added.

“The cooperation with China Construction Bank and Bank of Communications will enable RGE to increase carbon asset management efficiency and achieve its emission reduction target,” said Wang Jianguo, chairman of RGE China Energy Management Committee.

“This marks a new strategic move by RGE to actively participate in carbon emission trading and help bolster China’s carbon peak and neutrality goals,” he added.

RGE was founded by Sukanto Tanoto in 1973. The assets held by RGE companies now exceed USD20 billion. With more than 60,000 employees, RGE has operations in Indonesia, China, Brazil, Spain and Canada.

Editor: Peter Thomas