(Yicai Global) July 17 -- The main body that issues China’s guidelines on green finance has announced the first batch of green bonds that are fully compliant with the China-European Union Common Ground Taxonomy.

The 193 bonds selected by the Green Finance Committee of the China Society for Finance and Banking were in such areas as battery manufacturing, energy-saving home appliances, wind power, hydropower, and public transportation systems, it said on July 14.

Labeling China’s existing green bonds that also comply with EU standards is an important innovation for expanding the use of the CGT, and it will help in opening China’s green bond market to the public, said Ma Jun, chairman of the GFC and the Chinese co-chairman of the Sustainable Finance Study Group.

International investors expect the China-EU CGT to cover more fields, said Huang Chaoni, vice president and secretary general of the Hong Kong Green Finance Association, adding that it will also be conducive to encouraging foreign investors to participate in the Chinese mainland’s green bond market.

Published by the International Platform for Sustainable Finance, which was jointly initiated by the People’s Bank of China and the EU, the CGT identifies common ground in sustainable investment. It currently includes 72 economic activities jointly recognized by China and the EU as making a substantial contribution to climate change mitigation. 

Since its release in 2022, many market participants have benefited from CGT recognition when issuing green financial products.

Editor: Tom Litting