January 1, 2026

China will resolutely take all necessary measures to respond to any unfair trade restrictions stemming from the European Union's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), China's Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) said on Thursday.

A MOFCOM spokesperson made the remarks in response to media queries about the EU's CBAM, which is set to officially take effect on January 1, 2026. The EU recently released a series of CBAM-related legislative proposals and implementation rules, including setting default values for carbon emission intensity and planning to expand the scope of covered products.

The spokesperson said China has noted that the EU has disregarded China's remarkable achievements in green and low-carbon development by setting significantly higher baseline default values for the carbon emission intensity of Chinese products and planning to raise them year by year over the next three years. Such arrangements neither reflect China's current realities nor its future development trajectory and constitute unfair and discriminatory treatment against China, the spokesperson said.

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