China says must make 2-4 trillion yuan green investments per year

(Adds quote and comment on green chapter in five-year plan)

LIMA, Oct (HKSE: 3366-OL.HK - news) 8 (Reuters) - China must make green investments of between 2 trillion and 4 trillion yuan ($315-630 billion) per year over the next five years, but the government can only cover 15 percent of that, China's central bank deputy governor, Yi Gang, said on Thursday.

"Most of the finance has to come from the private sector, so we have to provide a positive incentive mechanism," Yi said on the sidelines of International Monetary Fund meetings in Lima.

Earlier this week, China confirmed it would launch a nationwide "cap-and-trade" program in 2017 to force big greenhouse gas emitters to buy credits to meet pollution reduction targets. Carbon market schemes aim in part to encourage low-carbon investments.

China will also make "green finance" a top priority of the Group of 20 when it takes up the G20 chair next year, Yi said.

"If we don't have international cooperation, we will find that investment in the green sector will be underinvested," Yi said. "The G20 platform is a good platform."

A new green finance committee in China is writing a "very important chapter" on environmental protection and sustainable growth for the country's next five-year plan, Yi added.

China is the world's biggest emitter of greenhouse gases. (Reporting by Randall Palmer and Mitra Taj; Editing by Leslie Adler)