(Yicai Global) Nov. 16 -- China is changing its method of calculating energy consumption for regions and corporations to promote the development of the renewables industry.

The annual usage of renewables will be deducted from the total energy consumption till 2025, the National Development and Reform Commission, the National Bureau of Statistics, and the National Energy Administration wrote in a recent document.

The world's second-largest economy is on its way to carbon neutrality by 2060 after introducing a carbon credit trading system in 2021.

The suggested policy means that firms that consume a lot of energy could offset some of the impacts by using renewables to reach their environmental goals. Renewables include wind, solar, biomass, and geothermal energy, as well as hydropower. The government agencies proposed giving green energy certificates to companies and constructing a trading system for them.

The policy is favorable for green energy certificate trading and it should increase the demand for photovoltaic products from non-PV makers to meet energy consumption targets, Xia Jiaxi, vice president of solar cell firm Sunket New Energy Technology, told Yicai Global.

The new policy can further improve the incentive mechanism for renewable energy consumption and promote the green energy industry from the demand side, said Hu Qimu, deputy secretary-general of the China Digital Economy and Real Economy Integration 50 Forum.

Editor: Shi Yi, Emmi Laine