#China #Baoting #Paris Agreement #zero-carbon

Baoting's Commitment to Climate Action

On October 22, 2025, Baoting, located in Hainan, China, officially launched the "China-EU Zero-Carbon County Cooperation Initiative" in celebration of the 10th anniversary of the Paris Agreement. This initiative is part of China's new Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC), aiming to integrate green and digital transitions for a sustainable future.

The event included an international conference titled “From Commitment to Implementation: Hainan's Actions in the COP Process,” held on October 20, 2025, and featured contributions from the Baoting People's Government, the China Society for Sustainable Development, and the Ningyuan Institute of Climate and Sustainable Development. Attendees included over a hundred representatives from international organizations, governments from China and Europe, research institutes, and enterprises.

The Role of Baoting in Zero-Carbon Transition

Baoting is uniquely positioned as the only county-level entity in China included in the Sino-European cooperation zone focused on green and digital innovation. It leverages policies from Hainan's free trade port, which includes zero tariffs, low tax rates, and simplified tax systems, to create unique advantages for international cooperation and green digital transformation.

The county laid a solid foundation for a green and digital transition through initiatives such as promoting electrification, enhancing energy efficiency, and developing integrated energy services across key sectors including industry, building, transportation, and tourism.

Baoting aims to strengthen tropical forests and river valley carbon sinks to balance reduction and sequestration efforts. It also plans to build a "carbon account + carbon balance" platform that complies with global standards, and ensure mutual recognition under the EU's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism.

International Recognition

The initiative has garnered praise from climate leaders, with Xie Zhenhua, China's Special Envoy for Climate Change, emphasizing Baoting's concrete cooperation with European partners as a vital step toward sustainable development and achieving the goals of creating Hainan's free trade port and a carbon-neutral island.

Laurence Tubiana, COP30 Special Envoy to Europe and CEO of the European Climate Foundation, underlined the importance of strong local action in meeting the Paris Agreement's objectives and recognized Baoting's innovative collaboration among government, universities, industry, and European partners. This experience could potentially serve as a model for other island economies.

Key Projects and Innovations

During the roundtable discussion on “Shaping New Paradigms for Future Cities and Climate Governance,” experts discussed actionable strategies to translate global climate ambitions into quantifiable urban solutions. The conference highlighted the significant role of artificial intelligence in climate governance and featured successful "AI+" models integrated into county governance, proactive health, digital economy, and green finance.

The "3+7+4" flagship project, launched during the European Partners Acceleration Camp at the conference, includes:

• - Three primary mechanism projects aimed at establishing a model for zero-carbon resilience in oceanic islands and comprehensive toolkits for policy, standards, law, finance, and knowledge sharing.
• - Seven international industrial projects focusing on digital therapies, standards for low-carbon ecological buildings and communities, and smart health systems catering to all ages, developed in partnership with European counterparts to set leading international standards.
• - Four pilot flagship projects to advance cross-border healthcare, negative carbon balance wellness, natural therapies, and proactive health technologies, establishing a global normative infrastructure.

Future Visions

Li Meng, Chairman of the Chinese Society for Sustainable Development, outlined four priorities for Baoting’s innovation zone in the upcoming year:
1. Establishing mutual recognition of standards
2. Developing legal frameworks for climate applications of AI
3. Innovating financial models
4. Ensuring moral guarantees for climate actions

These initiatives will include launching the Hainan Proactive Health Science Infrastructure and Clinical Research Translation Platform and developing Baoting's digital carbon management platform 2.0.

Expert Insights

Experts such as Mu Kerui, Secretary of the Baoting County Communist Party, and Qiao Jie, Executive Vice President of Peking University, provided insights into Baoting's innovative explorations in urban climate resilience models.

The event was fruitful, leading to the initiation of working groups focused on mutual recognition of carbon standards and sustainable legal mechanisms for oceanic regions, aiming to forge a collective response to climate challenges.

Baoting's proactive approach embodies a commitment to transforming vision into reality, striving to lead the way in establishing a zero-emission future while inviting global partners to join this essential journey. With calls to transition from words to action, Baoting is set to be a leader in climate innovation, paving the path toward sustainability for communities in China and beyond.