By Zhang Chenghui, DRC

As the rotating presidency, China took for the first time green finance as the major topic in the G20 Summit, which focused on the theme of “developing the world economy in an innovative, dynamic, interactive and inclusive way”. The 13th Five-Year Plan proposes that the government adhere to the requirements of "green development", and puts forward the concept of developing "green finance", which reflects China’s determination to pursue a green, low-carbon and sustainable economic development in accordance with the implementation of Paris Agreement, as well as its aspiration to promote the realization of global cooperation on climate and environmental issues. Along with the endeavour made by the Chinese government, market rules are also brought into full play.. But it should be pointed out that the development of green finance is facing a number of problems, in which the major issue is green financial legislation in China. China still lacks a clear definition of green financial concept and a relevant framework in statistical science, facing the issues of inadequate legislative enforcement, ambiguous assumption of responsibilities and incomplete operating rules and regulations. As a result, the system of green finance is generally carried out only in pilot practice according to related policies . The government needs to establish a green financial system by law, in order to give full play to the role of green financial policy in regulating and controlling the market and protecting the environment. First, with regard to legislative procedures, it is suggested that the National People's Congress pass the Green Financial Promotion Law and formulate and enforce the financial law in ecological terms; second, as regards legislative bodies, the central government needs to provide the guidelines for the enforcement of relevant legislation and encourage local governments to formulate relevant legal rules and regulations; third, in view of legal stipulations, it is necessary to make clear the definition of green finance, the rights and obligations of various entities, in accordance with the principle of taking the civil liability as the principal, and supplemented by criminal liability and administrative liability, and adhere to the combination of restrictive norms and incentive norms.

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