A Chinese government-affiliated researcher has denied reports that China is set to introduce a carbon tax before 2015.

“The introduction of carbon tax is not on the political agenda,” Fu Zhihua with the Financial Science Research Institute, a Ministry of Finance-affiliated think-tank told Point Carbon News.

The statement comes days after the state-owned journal Economic Information Daily reported last week that Fu’s think-tank had submitted a carb0n tax proposal to the ministry and that heavy energy users were likely to be subject to the tax within the next three years.  Various international media reported on the planned carbon tax in recent days, including The Australian and Wall Street Journal. We posted this story yesterday.