Anji Rural Commercial Bank in Huzhou, East China's Zhejiang province. [Photo/WeChat account: huzhoufabu]

Huzhou in East China's Zhejiang province recently enacted a legislation to promote green finance in the city, becoming the first prefecture-level city in the nation to do so.

The legislation was recently passed at the 31st session of the 13th standing committee of the Huzhou Municipal People's Congress.

Huzhou has implemented more than 40 innovative practices in green finance since 2017, when the city was designated a national pilot zone for green finance.

Green finance refers to structured financial activity that has been created to ensure a better environmental outcome.

The legislation's roll-out is part of Huzhou's latest efforts to push ahead with green finance reform.

Official statistics show green loans in Huzhou have registered an average annual growth rate of 43 percent since 2017. The city's energy consumption per unit of GDP and chemical oxygen demand (COD) emissions have also fallen by 16.4 percent and 31.3 percent respectively.

The city has established an integrated green finance service platform by using big data technology, which has helped to bridge green projects and financial institutions. Since its establishment, the platform has issued more than 240 billion yuan ($36.92 billion) in loans to nearly 23,000 enterprises.