BEIJING, July 24 (Xinhua) -- China's National Energy Administration (NEA) launched a price index for green electricity certificates (GECs) Friday in a bid to better reflect the development of green power market.

With the base period set at 100 points in January 2025, the index closed at 181 points in June 2026, representing a year-on-year increase of 23.2 percent, the NEA said.

Green electricity is electricity generated from renewable energy sources such as wind, solar or biomass power, whose prices serve as a barometer for the development of renewable energy.

The GECs price index will be released on a regular monthly basis, which is expected to boost market transparency, and facilitate precise supply-demand matching, an NEA official said.

China introduced the GEC system as a pilot program in 2017. In December 2023, the NEA issued an initial batch of certificates.

Data released by the NEA on Friday showed that it issued 373 million GECs in June, involving over 1.24 million renewable energy power generation projects.