China’s announcement of a nationwide cap-and-trade program is a sign that the government is serious in its “war against pollution,” says China Environment Forum Director Jennifer Turner, and it may help move the climate change discussion in the United States too.

Over the last three decades, China’s emissions have skyrocketed alongside its manufacturing sector and burgeoning cities. However, the government is now trying to “peak” emissions and eventually reduce them because of crippling air pollution, says Ruth Greenspan Bell, a public policy scholar who recently appeared with Turner on Wilson Center NOW.

As public pressure continues to mount, the central government is exerting top-down pressure to reduce pollution from coal-fired power plants. The shift has been long in the making, says Turner. Since 2013, China has launched pilot cap-and-trade projects in seven different cities. “None of these are fully successful yet,” she says, “but the Chinese seem fully committed to learn and master this market mechanism for controlling pollution.”

China is also implementing more real-time air monitoring and targets for reducing smog. “Local government officials are being told, ‘you are out of here if you can’t reach the target,’” says Turner. She notes that over the last year, small particle emissions have fallen by 16 percent and China is now the largest investor in renewable energy. Bell says China has made this progress not by “shock therapy,” but by developing its own way.

Turner and Bell agree that the partnership between the United States and China is an encouraging sign and has global implications. “I think the fact that China is engaging and made commitments is incredibly important,” says Bell. “There was once a standoff for part of the United States where people said, ‘We can’t act until China acts.’ And people in China no doubt were saying, ‘We can’t act unless the U.S. acts.’ We seem to have gotten beyond that.’”

The new carbon market will also have a “ripple effect” on the global economy as companies investing in China can be confident that their supply chains are becoming “cleaner and greener,” says Turner.

Nevertheless, there are many challenges to successfully implementing the national carbon market. Turner says one of the critical issues will be transparency. “You have to know what are the emissions, and that kind of information can often times be sensitive.”

“The clock is ticking,” Turner says. “The government declared a war on pollution. The Chinese public’s reaction is, ‘When are we going to win?’”