China a world leader in 'green' building development

China has registered rapid development of LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) green buildings over the past few years with first-tier cities remaining the most active players.

As of April, nearly 6,600 projects in China totaling more than 330 million square meters either received the LEED certification or were working toward it, making it the second-largest market after the United States in terms of LEED certification, according to data released today by the U.S. Green Building Council, which introduced the green building certification system.

"We've seen impressive development of LEED green buildings in China, with an annual growth rate exceeding 100 percent over the past few years," said Wang Jing, director of North Asia for U.S. Green Building Council & Green Business Certification (USGBC). "The popularity of green buildings is not only a practical way for the real estate industry to tackle climate change, but also a necessary option for the industry and the country to achieve the carbon neutral goal."

When factoring in emissions from the building-construction industry in addition to operational emissions, the building sector was responsible for 38 percent of global energy-related carbon dioxide emissions, according to the United Nations' 2020 Global Status Report for Buildings and Construction.

By property type, office buildings and retail properties are the two major Chinese recipients of LEED certification, holding market shares of 51 and 20 percent, respectively, USGBC data showed.

Shanghai, Beijing, Shenzhen and Guangzhou are the four most active cities in green building certification, with 709, 418, 164 and 117 LEED-certified projects, respectively, as of April.