carbon

Chinese corporations and the government, through tax receipts, are major beneficiaries of the new system of trading in global carbon credits. The global market for carbon credits was valued at $21.5 billion in the first three quarters of 2006, roughly double the value during all of 2005. China, which ranks behind the U.S. as the world's second-biggest emitter of gases that cause global warming, stands to earn about $1 billion in tax revenue from the trade over the next few years, citing a spokesman from the World Bank. China's rise as a leading player in the field has been facilitated by a selective tax and corporate-regulation policy. That policy has drawn fire from critics who say it reflects an attempt to cash on the lucrative new trade.