BEIJING, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- Rushan, a county-level city in Weihai, east China's Shandong Province, completed a 1,500-ton oyster carbon sink transaction in August 2025, which is the first of its kind in the province, providing a practical case for green finance.
Rushan has 600,000 mu (40,000 hectares) of oyster farming areas, with an annual output of 500,000 tonnes. Oysters absorb carbon dioxide from seawater during growth and store it in their calcium carbonate shells, thus serving as a carbon sink. It is estimated that oyster farming in Rushan generates about 599,000 tonnes of carbon sinks annually, demonstrating substantial ecological value, according to an official from Rushan Finance Bureau.
Besides, to realize the value of carbon sinks, Rushan launched a collaborative methodology study in August 2024 with a research team from the Yellow Sea Fisheries Research Institute. The study precisely calculated carbon dioxide emission reductions from oyster farming over the past three years, addressing the key challenge of measuring carbon sinks.
Moreover, Rushan has leveraged an online green finance platform to enable efficient registration and transaction matching for carbon sink information. Rushan Haili Wind Power Equipment Technology Co., Ltd. has participated in the transaction. Purchasing oyster carbon sinks aligns with the company's mission of contributing to China's dual-carbon goals, and is part of its efforts to offset corporate emissions, said a representative of the company.
Weihai has continued to drive green finance innovation in recent years, rolling out China's first marine carbon sink loan and the first fishery shellfish carbon sink index insurance. Rushan is now working with financial institutions to advance innovation in financial products based on oyster carbon sink. (Edited by Yang Linlin with Xinhua Silk Road, linlinyanglyn@163.com)
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