The authorities have started researching an environmental tax for polluters to cut their emissions, a top environment official said on Sept. 12. Several government agencies have organized an inter-ministerial team and brought together experts to come up with a research paper on environmental taxes, Pan Yue, Deputy Minister of MEP, said. He did not give details of the scope of the tax or when the policy would come into effect.

The team is also studying the feasibility of levying environment-related fees, policies of ecological compensation and setting up a trade model for emissions, Pan said.