Carbon trading pilot program making 'remarkable' progress: Official

China has made remarkable progress in its pilot for carbon emission trading and greenhouse gases equivalent to 264 million metric tons of carbon dioxide that had been traded as of October, Xie Zhenhua, China's special representative on climate change affairs, said on Monday.

The trade volume of these transactions has reached 6 billion yuan since the country launched the pilot program in seven provincial regions in 2011, he added.

Xie made the remark at a side event themed on carbon emission, which was held during the 24th Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, or COP 24.

In the regions that have introduced the pilot programs, the total amount of carbon emissions, as well as carbon intensity, have both decreased, he added.

"As a market mechanism, carbon emission trading could effectively reduce the cost of emission reduction and help reach the target of controlling green house gases. It could also promote technological development and industrial upgrading," Xie said.

He vowed continued effort in promoting the construction of the carbon emission trading system by boosting necessary infrastructure development and promoting capability building.

Scheduled to last until Friday, COP 24 is tasked with finalizing the implementation rules of the 2015 Paris climate change conference that aims to control global warming well below 2 degrees above pre-industrial levels.