GUANGZHOU -- Carbon emissions allowances closed at 27.39 yuan (about $3.91) per ton on Thursday, 1.26 percent up from Wednesday, at the China Emissions Exchange (Guangzhou), the largest local carbon market in China.

A total of 202,001 tonnes of allowances were transacted on Thursday, with a turnover of 5.65 million yuan.

The allowances, officially known as Guangdong Emissions Allowances (GDEA), are carbon dioxide emissions caps assigned to companies. Firms whose emissions surpass their share must buy extra quotas from authorities or purchase unused quotas on the market from those that cause less pollution.

Since its opening in December 2013, the market has traded 155.46 million tons of GDEA, with a total turnover of 3.12 billion yuan.

On Thursday, the market also traded 165,758 tons of China Certified Emissions Reductions (CCER), which are companies' voluntary reduction of emissions achieved via means such as afforestation or employing clean energy technologies.

The carbon market in Guangdong covers all companies whose annual carbon dioxide emissions surpass 20,000 tons from the province, except those in Shenzhen, which has a separate market. So far, more than 240 enterprises in sectors of power generation, steel, cement, petrochemicals, paper making and aviation have been included.

Activities on the market are reflective of the industry's emissions control cost in Guangdong, a manufacturing powerhouse and big energy consumer in China.