THE CHINESE ETS - ANY LESSONS LEARNED FROM THE EU ETS?

According to official Chinese sources the seven regional emissions trading system (ETS) pilots will next year be included in a national ETS. These regional ETS pilots have since 2015 been operating in a macroeconomic context since already in 2010 did the National Development and Resource Commission (NDRC) plan a national ETC. Since the EU ETS is the primary example of an ETS where the "regions", that is the member states (MS), are at very different levels of development like the regions are in China, there should be some lessons to be learned. First of all the EU ETS is clearly not a success story, since there is a very low carbon price having a very small effect on emissions if any at all. That rises the questions of alternative methods, in particular a carbon tax instead of an ETS. Secondly there are several issues of governance; in particular the tension between the member states themselves and the EU Commission. Who take the lead, who decides in the final end? The purpose of the paper is primarily to put forward some questions that are missing in the academic literature. Given the limited space, the answers will be short and tentative..