China’s Top Polluters to Face Carbon Test When Building Plants

China will require new plants in industries from steel to petrochemicals to meet carbon-footprint requirements before winning approval, part of its efforts to create a greener economy and meet key targets.

Beijing will add emissions to criteria used to approve or reject factories, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment said in a statement. That’s on top of existing regulations controlling air and water pollution that have raised costs and limited the expansion of heavy industry over the past decade.

The new regime, which is still in the planning stage, will cover six industries: power, iron and steel, building materials, ...