Summary of major events in the ESG field in the first half of 2024

In the first half of 2024, significant progress has been made in the ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) field in China, and a series of important events have occurred. Here is a summary of major events in this field:

1、 Policy and top-level design

1. The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council have issued important documents
   • In January 2024, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council issued the "Opinions on Comprehensively Promoting the Construction of a Beautiful China", which proposed to improve the environmental impact assessment source prevention management system, fully implement the pollution discharge permit system, accelerate the construction of an environmental credit supervision system, deepen the reform of the legal disclosure system for environmental information, and explore the implementation of environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) evaluations.
2. Multiple ministries jointly issue guidance opinions
   • On April 11, 2024, the People's Bank of China, the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Ecological Environment, the State Administration of Financial Supervision and the China Securities Regulatory Commission jointly issued the Guiding Opinions on Further Strengthening Financial Support for Green and Low Carbon Development, encouraging credit rating agencies to incorporate ESG factors into credit rating methods and models, and supporting securities funds and related investment industries to develop green investment products.
3. The Ministry of Finance releases a draft for soliciting opinions
   • On May 27, 2024, the Ministry of Finance released the "Basic Guidelines for Corporate Sustainable Disclosure (Draft for Comments)", proposing that by 2027, China's corporate sustainable disclosure basic guidelines and climate related disclosure guidelines will be successively introduced; By 2030, the national unified sustainable disclosure standard system will be basically established.
4. State owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council issues guidance
   • On June 4, 2024, the State owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council issued the "Guiding Opinions on the High Standard Fulfillment of Social Responsibility by Central Enterprises in the New Era", requiring the effective strengthening of ESG work, the integration of ESG work into the overall management of social responsibility work, the promotion of high standard implementation of ESG management requirements by holding listed companies, and the strengthening of ESG governance and information disclosure of overseas operating institutions.

2、 Exchanges and Information Disclosure

1. The three major A-share exchanges have issued guidelines
   • In April 2024, the Shanghai Stock Exchange, Shenzhen Stock Exchange, and Beijing Stock Exchange simultaneously released the "Guidelines for Self discipline Supervision of Listed Companies - Sustainable Development Report (Trial) (Draft for Comments)", which will be officially implemented on May 1, 2024. This guideline requires listed companies to better integrate and report sustainable development related information, marking the arrival of the era of mandatory ESG disclosure in A-shares.

3、 Local government and regional development

1. Shanghai releases action plan
   • On February 28, 2024, the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce issued the "Three Year Action Plan for Accelerating the Improvement of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Capability of Foreign related Enterprises in the City (2024-2026)", deploying multiple tasks in areas such as enhancing ESG capability of enterprises, empowering market efficiency, and optimizing service systems.
2. Beijing releases implementation plan
   • The Beijing Municipal Development and Reform Commission has officially issued the "Implementation Plan for Promoting the High Quality Development of the Environmental and Social Governance (ESG) System in Beijing (2024-2027)", which deploys multiple tasks from strengthening ESG information disclosure and enhancing ESG ecosystem construction.
3. Suzhou Industrial Park releases action plan
   • Suzhou Industrial Park has released the "Action Plan for ESG Industry Development in Suzhou Industrial Park" and "Several Measures to Promote ESG Development in Suzhou Industrial Park", proposing specific measures to encourage practical application, support industrial development, and create an ESG development ecosystem.

4、 ESG Market and Investment

1. ESG wealth management products are rapidly developing
   • In the first half of 2024, the outstanding balance of ESG wealth management products reached 188 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 18.54%. According to data from the Banking Wealth Management Registration and Custody Center, ESG themed wealth management products are frequently updated, demonstrating the positive attitude of the financial industry in promoting green development.
2. The Global ESG Conference is about to be held
   • Approved by the State Council, the 2024 Global Leadership Conference on Environment, Social and Corporate Governance (referred to as the "2024 ESG Global Leadership Conference") will be held from October 16th to 18th in Huangpu District, Shanghai. The conference aims to gather global sustainable development forces and promote international consensus and cooperation in the ESG field.

5、 Other important developments

1. Pilot construction of carbon emission management standardization
   • The National Development and Reform Commission, the State Administration for Market Regulation, and the Ministry of Ecology and Environment have issued a notice proposing to build 100 pilot projects for carbon emission management standardization by 2025, aiming to encourage and guide more enterprises to participate in carbon emission management and green development through pilot projects.
2. Action Plan for the Construction of New Power System
   • The National Development and Reform Commission, the National Energy Administration, and the National Data Administration have released the "Action Plan for Accelerating the Construction of a New Power System (2024-2027)", which requires the key implementation of nine special actions from 2024 to 2027 to promote the construction of a new power system and achieve practical results.

In the first half of 2024, China's ESG field has made significant progress in policy promotion, exchange guidance, local government practice, market investment, and carbon emission management, laying a solid foundation for future sustainable development.