China Automotive Carbon Digital Technology Center launched a program on Monday to help small and medium-sized companies in the industry sector to manage their carbon footprint.

The center said the program will involve carmakers, financial institutions, trade associations as well as colleges to promote high-quality green development and facilitate companies' efforts to shift towards low-carbon or zero-emissions development.

The automotive industry ranks among the top in terms of carbon emissions. Statistics show that the sector accounts for 7.3 percent of the world's total carbon emissions.

The International Energy Agency estimates that the number of vehicles on roads will be 1.6 times the current figure by 2070, posing a grave challenge for the sector to cut emissions.

Shi Yongwan, Party secretary of China Automotive Carbon Digital Technology Center, said the Chinese automotive industry's low-carbon development is crucial to the country's economic low-carbon transformation.

As the world's second largest economy, China pledged to peak its carbon emissions by 2030 and reach carbon neutrality by 2060.

China Automotive Carbon Digital Technology Center has built China's first automotive carbon information platform, which is expected to facilitate automotive industry's green transformation that will prove crucial to its high-quality development.

The center said the platform now has made public carbon statistics about around 1,400 vehicles from over 20 carmakers.

Zhao Dongchang, president of the center, released the list on Monday of five leading low-carbon models for the year 2023, including vehicles from carmakers including Geely, GAC Honda and Great Wall Motors.

As vehicles' carbon-related information is made public, the platform has seen a growing number of models with low-carbon emissions, said Zhao.