European officials have insisted that Chinese airlines will have to pay for their carbon emissions, rebuffing an attempt by Beijing yesterday to shield them from a controversial emissions trading scheme.

While Chinese airlines had previously said they would not pay the EU carbon tax, the Civil Aviation Administration of China formally instructed them not to join the EU emissions trading scheme without government approval.

“China hopes that Europe will address our concerns in light of the overall situation of global climate change, the sustainable development of international aviation and Chinese-European relations,” the Chinese aviation authority said, adding that it “will consider additional measures to protect the interests of our citizens and companies”.