The plan aims to help Chongqing’s export-oriented foreign trade enterprises achieve green and low-carbon transformation.

On December 11, the Chongqing Municipal Government Information Office held a press conference to interpret the “Implementation Plan for Accelerating the Establishment of a Product Carbon Footprint Management System Oriented Towards Export Trade.” At the conference, Liu Ming, Deputy Director of the Chongqing Municipal Bureau of Ecology and Environment, answered reporters’ questions regarding the significance of the plan’s release for Chongqing’s comprehensive promotion of green and low-carbon transformation, and its impact on the development of the export trade industry. “Product carbon footprint is an important indicator for measuring a company’s green production level; the lower the value, the stronger its green and low-carbon attributes,” said Liu Ming. He explained that the core objective of this plan is to build a carbon footprint management system oriented towards export trade in Chongqing, promoting the green and low-carbon transformation of export trade enterprises and enhancing the green competitiveness of export products. Specifically, it has three main implications. First, it promotes the green transformation of enterprises and cultivates new drivers of green development. By using carbon footprint accounting, enterprises can identify high-emission stages in their production processes, which helps them to carry out targeted technological upgrades such as energy-saving equipment renewal and circular process upgrades, achieving a shift from “blindly reducing emissions” to “precisely reducing carbon emissions” and accelerating their own green and low-carbon transformation. Meanwhile, the “Plan” clearly defines carbon footprint performance as an important basis for enterprises to enjoy policy support such as green finance credit, priority in government procurement, green manufacturing certification, and carbon credit conversion on the city’s “Carbon Benefit Pass” platform, forming a clear policy incentive orientation. We look forward to more enterprises actively engaging in carbon footprint accounting and management, using carbon constraints to drive technological innovation and management upgrades. Secondly, it enriches the supply of low-carbon products and leads a new trend of green consumption. By conducting product carbon footprint accounting and labeling certification, consumers can intuitively understand the carbon emission levels of various products, providing a clear reference for their purchasing decisions. For example, according to the plan, on the one hand, the government and state-owned enterprises are encouraged to prioritize the procurement and promotion of low-carbon footprint products, leveraging the demonstrative and leading role of public procurement; on the other hand, differentiated subsidy policies will be explored for consumer goods such as automobiles, electric motorcycles, and home appliances that have passed carbon labeling certification, thereby guiding consumers to purchase and use low-carbon products and services. Furthermore, green demand from consumers will be transmitted back to the production process, forcing enterprises to continuously optimize product low-carbon design and promote carbon reduction throughout the supply chain, ultimately building a virtuous cycle of “green consumption leading green production, and green production supporting green consumption,” promoting the green and low-carbon concept to the public, and gathering a powerful force for the city’s comprehensive green transformation through joint construction and sharing. Finally, it is crucial to properly address international green trade rules and enhance the competitiveness of foreign trade products. In recent years, countries and economies such as Europe and the United States have successively introduced green trade policies, imposing requirements such as carbon footprint accounting reports on imported products. This has created rigid requirements for foreign trade enterprises to establish and improve carbon data management systems and conduct product carbon footprint accounting. Chongqing’s foreign trade scale has continued to expand, forming a complete export industrial chain cluster centered on laptops and intelligent connected new energy vehicles. These advantageous export products are precisely the key areas covered by the new international green trade rules. The “Plan” clearly outlines measures such as establishing internationally aligned accounting technical standards and participating in the construction of a carbon footprint factor database, aiming to help Chongqing’s foreign trade enterprises conduct product carbon footprint accounting more accurately and efficiently, better adapt to international green trade rules, and enhance the green competitiveness of export products.