How to use green finance reform to empower low-carbon transformation of industrial structure? Take a look at the exploration of Quzhou, Zhejiang

Focus on reform empowerment and build a regional green financial institutional system

Reform is the only way to promote high-quality economic development. To accelerate the process of green and low-carbon economic and social development, and improve the quality and efficiency of green finance in assisting the low-carbon transformation of industrial structures, we must strengthen the enabling role of reform. Quzhou actively builds a regional green finance institutional system, and has successively issued directional and programmatic documents such as the "Implementation Opinions on Promoting the Construction of Green Finance Reform and Innovation Pilot Zones" and "Several Policy Opinions on Accelerating the Construction of Green Finance Reform and Innovation Pilot Zones (Trial)". Sexual documents have formed a "1+6+N" policy system for carbon account finance covering fiscal interest discounts and industrial policy awards and subsidies. It provides strong institutional support for green finance to empower the green and low-carbon transformation of the industry. Focusing on the four key areas of environmental finance, transformation finance, biodiversity finance, and green inclusive finance, efforts will be made to promote innovation in green finance systems.

In terms of environmental finance, we will innovate and create an agricultural green transformation model to form a new ecological breeding pattern of "small circulation in the main body, circulation in the park, and large circulation in the county"; innovate and create "chemical + giant chemical","special paper + crane","steel + yuan Li" and other industrial green transformation models have initially established a green ecological industrial chain network. In terms of transformation finance, we have innovatively launched a carbon account accounting and evaluation standard system covering six major areas: industry, energy, agriculture (forestry), construction, transportation and residents 'lives. On the basis of carbon accounts, we will create a transformative financial 5e digital intelligence system that integrates carbon emissions e-account, carbon credit e-report, carbon policy e-release, carbon finance e-supermarket, and carbon benefit e-evaluation. Through the quantification of "carbon", the granularity of green finance standards has been transformed from industry to enterprise, and qualitative to quantitative, which has better solved the common problems of "difficulty in identifying financial low-carbon assets and enterprises" in low-carbon transformation and development. There are three major problems: difficulty in precise carbon reduction management and difficulty in government low-carbon transformation governance. In terms of financial support for biodiversity, we have innovatively built the "Banking Biodiversity Risk Management Guidelines" to embed biodiversity risk management into the entire credit management process, effectively helping financial institutions improve the quality and effectiveness of risk control. In terms of the integration of green finance and inclusive finance, we actively build green inclusive finance standards, form a credit support catalog, and continue to promote the coverage of green financial services to expand to more inclusive groups.

Focus on product empowerment and innovate multi-category green financial supply systems

Innovation is the first driving force for the development of green finance. At present, my country's green financing is mainly carried out in the form of green loans and green bonds. There are relatively few related financing products such as equity and funds, and innovation needs to be accelerated. Focusing on the two main lines of green transformation of agriculture and industry, Quzhou comprehensively carries out innovation in multiple categories of financial products such as green credit, green insurance, green bonds, and green funds, focusing on meeting the funding needs of traditional industries for pollution prevention, technological transformation, and industrial upgrading. At the same time, we will continue to launch pledge loans for intangible assets and accounts receivable, carry out the promotion and innovation of green credit products such as seamless loan renewal, investment-loan linkage, debt-to-equity swaps, and debt-stock combinations, and explore the charging rights and income rights of energy conservation and environmental protection projects, forest rights, emission rights, and tourism income rights. For example, it issued the first industrial enterprise carbon account, agricultural carbon neutrality account, and personal carbon account loans; launched more than 50 kinds of energy-saving, water-saving and environmental protection loans, circular economy loans, ecological restoration loans and other products; launched comprehensive liability insurance for production safety and environmental pollution., as well as agricultural and grain insurance, bamboo price index insurance, clear water fish breeding insurance and other insurance products covering agriculture, forestry, fishery and animal husbandry; The Quzhou Green Industry Guidance Fund was created using a mother-child fund structure, and different sub-funds were used to leverage social capital to flow to green industry projects such as integrated circuits and high-end equipment manufacturing. As of the end of June 2024, 33 financial institutions in the city have launched 46 carbon finance exclusive products, with a carbon account loan balance of 87.3 billion yuan, of which a personal carbon account loan balance of 13.5 billion yuan. This fully shows that in recent years, Quzhou's green financial products have become increasingly rich, and the quality and efficiency of the green financial supply system have steadily improved. In particular, personal carbon account products have gradually become popular among the people.

Focus on service empowerment and create a digitally intelligent green financial service system

A high-quality and efficient green financial service system is a key link for green finance to empower the low-carbon transformation of the industrial structure. Quzhou adheres to the basic orientation of digital empowerment, accelerates the creation of a digitally intelligent green financial service system, and steadily improves the quality and efficiency of digitally intelligent services. In accordance with the principles of "unified data access, leveling statistical standards, one-time reporting by banks, and departmental data sharing", we took the lead in establishing a regional special statistical information management system for green loans, effectively solving the problems of multiple scales of green credit, repeated reporting by financial institutions, and reporting difficulties and other issues have further strengthened the quality and efficiency of the low-carbon transformation of the green financial service industry. Relying on the Quzhou City Green Financial Service Credit Information Platform (Qurongtong), it provides enterprises with one-stop services such as financing, guarantee, and consultation, realizing the collection of credit information of market entities, green labeling, bank-enterprise docking, data analysis, and early warning systems. The unification of functions reduces the financing costs and risks of banks and enterprises. The system is built on the integrated intelligent public data platform of Zhejiang Province, connecting the carbon account system and the core business systems of 27 banking institutions in the city, realizing direct connection of horizontal and vertical data at the three levels of provinces, cities and counties, and completely building a full-process online and closed-loop system from carbon data accounting to carbon loan benefit feedback.

Through the above three measures, Quzhou's green finance has achieved remarkable results in empowering the low-carbon transformation of the industrial structure. On the one hand, the supply of green financial loans has increased significantly, becoming one of the important sources of corporate loan funds. According to statistics, from 2018 to 2023, the average annual growth rate of green loan balance in Quzhou reached 65%, which is 47 percentage points higher than the average growth rate of various loans. At the end of June this year, the balance of green loans reached 182.3 billion yuan, accounting for the proportion of all loans. 33.50%. On the other hand, the green transformation and upgrading of enterprises are accelerating. With the support of green financial funds, the green agricultural cycle mechanism in Quzhou has been initially established, and traditional industries such as steel, chemicals, and textiles have accelerated their transformation and upgrading. Carbon account finance has helped enterprises reduce carbon emissions and have achieved remarkable results.

The author is deputy director of the Scientific Research Department of the Party School of Quzhou Municipal Party Committee and a researcher at the Innovation and Development Research Institute of the "Eighth Strategy" of Zhejiang Province