On January 8, the People's Bank of China and the Ministry of Ecological Environment jointly held a meeting to promote green financial services for building a beautiful China. Zhu Hexin, member of the Party Committee and vice president of the People's Bank of China, pointed out at the meeting that in recent years, the financial sector has continuously improved the green financial policy framework, improved the quality and efficiency of green financial services, formed a relatively complete green financial system, and provided strong support for green and low-carbon development of the economy and society. At present, China has formed a multi-level green finance market system dominated by green loans and green bonds, with various green financial instruments flourishing. Among them, the green bond market has shown particularly strong development momentum in recent years. According to the "White Paper on China's Green Bonds" released by the Central Depository and Clearing Corporation in October last year, the scale of China's green bond issuance has doubled from 2018 billion yuan to 844.8 billion yuan from 2016 to 2023, with an average annual growth rate of 22.7%. During the same period, green bonds provided financing channels for more market entities, with the number of issuers increasing from 35 to 299, a tenfold increase in the number of issuances. The stock size of green bonds has also rapidly increased. As of the end of 2023, there are 1815 Chinese green bonds in existence, with a bond balance of 2.1 trillion yuan. According to Wind data, in 2024, the number of green bonds issued will be 679, with an issuance scale exceeding 700 billion yuan. The scale of green bond issuance remains stable, but there are also highlights. Wang Youxin, a senior researcher at the Research Institute of Bank of China, told reporters that the cost advantage of issuing new green bonds last year was relatively prominent, providing lower financing costs for some enterprises. In addition, the issuance of innovative varieties continues to grow. In 2024, there will be a strong growth in the issuance of innovative green bonds, such as the first "the Belt and Road" scientific and technological innovation green corporate bonds in China, which will promote the diversified development of the green bond market. At the policy level, the Guiding Opinions on Further Strengthening Financial Support for Green and Low Carbon Development (hereinafter referred to as the "Guiding Opinions") and the Opinions on Leveraging the Role of Green Finance to Serve the Construction of a Beautiful China were issued in 2024, which have also played a positive role in the development of the green bond market. Fang Yixiang, Deputy General Manager of the Green Finance Department of Dongfang Jincheng, stated in an interview with reporters that the "Guiding Opinions" encourage overseas institutions to issue green panda bonds and invest in domestic green bonds. This will help promote the two-way opening and cross-border flow of the green bond market, by attracting the participation of foreign investors, further expanding the financing channels of green bonds, and enhancing market liquidity and activity. At the same time, the Guiding Opinions also support the development of green investment products by securities funds and related investment industries. By developing diversified green investment products, the needs of different investors can be met, further expanding the audience of the green bond market and increasing the participation of market entities. Looking towards the future, Wang Youxin believes that under the guidance of the "dual carbon" target, with the further implementation and continuous improvement of various policies, the green bond market will enter a new stage of high-quality development. At the same time, the development and innovation of green new technologies will provide more targets and investment opportunities for the green bond market. But there are also some issues that urgently need to be addressed, such as solving the problem of a single issuer structure Wang Youxin stated that currently, the main issuers of green bonds are concentrated in state-owned enterprises and the financial industry, and the participation of private enterprises and non-financial enterprises needs to be improved. In addition, the problem of unreasonable term structure is also prominent. The issuance period of green bonds is mainly in the short and medium term, and there is insufficient support for long-term green projects. In the future, it should be considered to appropriately expand the financing proportion of medium and long-term bonds. In Fang Yixiang's view, with the increasing support from the government for green finance policies and the continuous popularization and deepening of green and sustainable development concepts, there is still significant room for development in China's green bond market. Further promoting the high-quality development of the green bond market can vigorously promote innovation in green bond products and services. Green bond derivatives can be introduced to enrich green bond funds, green bond indices, and related trading open-end index fund products, providing investors with more diversified investment choices. Improve green bond investment advisory services, promote innovation in green bond trading services, help investors identify green bond investment opportunities, enhance their awareness and investment willingness towards green bonds. We need to further promote the two-way opening of the green bond market Fang Yixiang stated that it is necessary to strengthen international exchanges in green bond business, technical standards, and rule formulation, promote international recognition of China's green bond information disclosure standards, form international consensus, continuously enhance the global influence of China's green bond market, and promote cross-border and two-way flow of green capital. (New Society)