China may delay launch of nationwide carbon market: govt. researcher

BEIJING (Reuters) - China may delay the launch of the country's nationwide carbon trading market until early next year, Wang Zhongying, deputy director general at the National Development and Reform Commission's Energy Research Institute, said on Thursday. China, the world's biggest emitter of climate-warming greenhouse gases, has launched seven pilot regional trading schemes and promised to create a national exchange as part of its pledges ahead of the 2015 Paris climate change agreement. But the national programme, originally touted to launch in the first half of 2017, has faced snarls due to unreliable data and other regulatory problems. (Corrects to read may delay, not to delay, in headline and paragraph 1) (Reporting by Josephine Mason and Muyu Xu; Editing by Tom Hogue)