The lights from the Beijing Environment Exchange — one of seven pilot markets in China for trading carbon — raises questions for the country as it prepares for next year’s roll-out of a nationwide system that could help the world’s biggest emitter of heat-trapping carbon dioxide rein in its emissions.

A successful carbon offset, or “cap-and-trade,” market could play a big part in cutting China’s emissions — and help the world tackle global warming. Already launched in Europe, California and a few other spots, such carbon offset markets limit how much carbon can be emitted per year by factories and businesses. They then let those businesses that release less carbon than the cap sell to other companies permissions to emit whatever’s left.

So far, the pilots have failed to make a noticeable dent in carbon emissions, with about 978 million yuan, or $158 million, traded since their launch in 2013, compared to the 7.2 billion euros, or about $8 billion, of carbon offsets that were traded in the European market in its first year of operation, 2006. Many companies required to buy carbon credits have waited until the last minute of compliance periods to make their trades, which has raised concerns about low liquidity in the market. Some observers question the reliability of data recording how much companies are emitting.

Chinese officials, however, say the pilot markets aren’t meant to significantly cut the country’s carbon profile yet. Instead, they say they are learning important lessons from their experiments and will use them in what will soon become the world’s biggest carbon offset market. “China is taking this step to accept its responsibility in stopping climate change,” said Zhou Cheng, the Beijing exchange’s vice-president. “This affects industry in a legal, scientific way, and it lets them form their business plans while looking at carbon emissions too.”