China is increasingly at the centre of discussions about climate policy, as its government is designing a nationwide greenhouse gas emission trading system (ETS) to be implemented in 2017. The European Union (EU) is supporting this effort by sharing expertise about and experiences from Europe's ETS – the world's biggest and longest-running carbon market – with Chinese experts and policymakers. China is already home to several pilot ETS in various provinces, which constitute active carbon markets from which to gain experiences that can inform the future national programme.