Sustainable development, integral to humanity’s fate and future, is the “golden key” to solving current global challenges. The CPC Central Committee and the State Council have placed great emphasis on the sustainable development of economy, society and environment, making several important strategic deployments in recent years. The report to the 20th CPC National Congress reiterated the commitment to promote green development and foster harmonious coexistence between humans and nature. On December 29, 2023, SZSE released the White Paper on Sustainable Development Information Disclosure of SZSE-Listed Companies (hereinafter referred to as “the White Paper”) with the aim of further consolidating consensus and pooling strengths to aid the advancement of sustainable development.

The White Paper aligns with the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and China‘s sustainable development strategies and goals. By sharing practices and exemplary cases of sustainable development information disclosure among SZSE-listed companies, it guides these companies to strengthen their awareness and actively embody the principles of sustainable development, thereby contributing to a favorable sustainable development ecosystem. The White Paper comprises three main sections:

Firstly, it presents an overview of the quality of sustainable development information disclosure among SZSE-listed companies. According to the White Paper, there has been a continual rise in the initiative of these companies in disclosing sustainable development information. In 2022, among the SZSE-listed companies, over 2,700 entities disclosed their social responsibility activities in annual reports, nearly 1,100 companies reported information on pollution prevention, resource conservation and ecological protection, and more than 800 companies published independent social responsibility, ESG or sustainable development reports, up by over 200 companies from the previous year. Moreover, the group of companies disclosing high-quality sustainable development information has been expanding. As per the CNI ESG Ratings, by the end of September 2023, 576 SZSE-listed companies were rated A or higher, accounting for 21.07% of the total, a rise of 6.98% from the end of 2021. Additionally, the disclosure of key issues has been increasingly thorough, with the number and proportion of various sustainable development topics disclosed by SZSE-listed companies generally trending upwards over the past two years.

Secondly, the White Paper highlights exemplary cases of sustainable development information disclosure by SZSE-listed companies for the year 2022. These companies actively practice the concept of sustainable development through measures such as developing their businesses, standardizing corporate governance, enhancing the quality of information disclosure and fulfilling social responsibilities. They contribute at a micro-level to the implementation of the national sustainable development strategy and goals, emerging as “forerunners” in sustainable development practices and information disclosure. The White Paper aligns with the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and China’s sustainable development strategies and goals, selecting ten major topics including technological innovation in emerging industries, green and low-carbon energy development, energy conservation and emission reduction and climate change response. It features 14 representative cases of sustainable development practices and outstanding information disclosure by SZSE-listed companies, sharing their efforts and disclosures under these topics in a comprehensive manner.

Thirdly, it focuses on the exchange's practices and related work arrangements. The concept of a sustainable exchange is rich in content and broad in scope, encompassing the support of socio-economic sustainable development, promoting sustainable development among listed companies and achieving the sustainability of the exchange itself. In recent years, SZSE has resolutely implemented the sustainable development strategy, actively engaged in sustainable practices and supported the clustering development of green industries. Guiding listed companies to practice the ESG concept, continually increasing the supply of sustainable financial products and actively participating in the global governance of sustainable development are some of the key measures. SZSE is committed to creating a group of listed companies that align with low-carbon and sustainable development principles. We focus on establishing a robust financial regulatory system and product sequences that effectively serve sustainable development, promoting the formation of a sustainable financial market ecosystem and striving to set a benchmark for sustainable exchanges.

The Central Financial Work Conference highlighted the importance of excelling in five major areas: technology finance, green finance, inclusive finance, pension finance and digital finance. Moving forward, SZSE will deeply implement the spirit of the 20th CPC National Congress and the Central Financial Work Conference. Following the unified deployment of the CSRC, with the mission of gathering innovative capital and stimulating growth momentum, SZSE will continuously improve the regulatory system for sustainable development. We aim to enrich the product system and optimize the service system for sustainable development. By fully leveraging the pivotal role of the capital market, SZSE will focus on excelling in these five major areas. We will gradually realize the strategic objectives of aggregating green and sustainable development enterprises, creating green and sustainable development products, connecting green and sustainable financial capital, establishing a green and sustainable development brand, and building an ecological system for the green and sustainable financial market.