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On November 22, 2011, the State Council – China’s highest executive body of state power – issued a document on the country’s policy response to climate change ((Chun, Zhang (2012) China’s low-carbon zones lack motivation, guidance and idea http://www.chinadialogue.net/article/show/single/en/5318-China-s-low-carbon-zones-lack-motivation-guidance-and-ideas (accessed 8 November 2012) )), which called for low-carbon trials at industrial zones, communities and businesses. Industry accounting for 60% of all urban greenhouse-gas emissions, attention turned to industrial zones. But there were no models to follow, and no single set of plans or standards. Many low-carbon industrial zones just “went their own way”.This year, the US Institute for Sustainable Communities (ISC) released a guide for the development of green industrial parks inChina. The assessment system includes 23 measures across four major categories:energy use and greenhouse-gas management;recycling economy and environmental protection;zone management and protection mechanisms;and planning layout and land use.Energy use and greenhouse-gas management accounts for 60% of a zone’s score, and as such is the key element of evaluation.