China playing leading role in global corporate decarbonization

According to SBTi data, the number of companies in China with SBTi targets nearly doubled in 2025, rising 92 percent from the previous year, making the country the fastest-growing market globally. The most rapidly growing sectors in China include information technology, cement, consumer staples and consumer discretionary, the factsheet showed.

"We didn't expect such a strong increase, but we are very pleased to see it," Kazaglis said.

For China, a major manufacturing power deeply embedded in global supply chains, one of the most important issues is Scope 3 emissions — indirect emissions across suppliers, materials and product use.

Kazaglis said Scope 3 accounts for about 60 percent of a company's emissions, but is difficult to manage because the emissions may be upstream or downstream, where they do not control how products are used.

That challenge is becoming increasingly relevant for Chinese exporters, when some energy-intensive sectors, such as cement, need to take up SBTi standards as they prepare for overseas climate requirements.

"If they're looking to export to, for example, the European Union, they know that the customers over there are going to ask — do you have an SBTi target? And they'll try to respond to that pressure, too."

As demand grows, the SBTi is seeking to deepen its engagement with China and launched its new Standard Version 2.0 in the market this month, a step he said reflects the country's growing importance in the initiative's global network.

"China is setting the pace. That's also leading to companies demanding the Standard and SBTi targets fit into that demand as well," he said.

For China, the significance of Standard Version 2.0 is that it offers more flexibility for different sectors, and recognizes progress instead of merely outcomes since certain companies, especially industrial players, may not always be able to reduce their emissions on an average point, the senior executive noted.

"We want to work closely with the companies that need that support," Kazaglis said. "We also want to go into new sectors as well as steel and cement, help those companies that are looking to access the European markets as much as we can, and build out our approach here as well."