2023 GBA Sustainable Finance Summit Concluded Successfully

On October 27th, the "2023 GBA Sustainable Finance Summit" was successfully held in Shenzhen, hosted by Shenzhen Municipal Financial Regulatory Bureau and co-organized by China Alliance of Social Value Investment (hereinafter referred to as "CASVI"), 21st Century Business Herald and Shenzhen Finance Institute, CUHK(SZ).The summit invited government representatives, industry leaders, corporate executives, and experts and scholars to discuss and explore the trends and innovative practices in sustainable finance, with the aim of promoting the construction of a sustainable financial ecosystem in the Greater Bay Area and supporting high-quality development.

As one of the most vibrant and internationally advanced regions in the Chinese economy, the Greater Bay Area plays a leading role in promoting industrial chain and supply chain upgrading and transformation, as well as the development of green and transformative finance, serving as a new engine for high-quality and sustainable development.

To this end, this year's series of sustainable development activities and the "Greater Bay Area Sustainable Finance Forum" invited renowned experts, scholars, and entrepreneurs from both domestic and international backgrounds to share their insights and perspectives, conveying China's financial and economic voice to the world and contributing unique insights with a broader international vision.

The forum, hosted by Ge Xing'an, Vice Chairperson of CASVI , invited dozens of experts with profound achievements and rich experience in different fields of sustainable finance to bring a wonderful dialogue and research results to the audience.

Shu Yumin, Secretary of Shenzhen Municipal Financial Regulatory Bureau, stated that in recent years, Shenzhen has carried out many exemplary practices and explorations in the field of sustainable finance. In terms of institutional innovation, Shenzhen has introduced the world's first comprehensive local legislation on green finance, the "Shenzhen Special Economic Zone Green Finance Regulations," and formulated a series of supporting systems and standards. Currently, Shenzhen is also promoting the development of policies to support social finance. In the future, more internationally influential high-end financial summits, fintech competitions, and financial innovation exhibitions will be organized.

Christopher Hui Ching-yu , Secretary for Hong Kong Financial Services and the Treasury, stated that in terms of green and sustainable finance development, the "Outline Development Plan for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area" supports the development of Hong Kong as a green finance center in the Greater Bay Area. Hong Kong also supports enterprises in the Qianhai-Hong Kong Modern Service Industry Cooperation Zone to issue green bonds in Hong Kong and obtain green financing from banks. Hong Kong will continue to leverage its unique advantages under the principle of "one country, two systems" and its status as an international financial center to guide national funds to enter the mainland, including the Greater Bay Area market, to match high-quality green projects and contribute to the country's sustainable development.

Beate Trankmann, Representative of the United Nations Development Programme in China, stated that under the combined impact of climate disasters, conflicts, economic downturn, and the ongoing pandemic, only 15% of sustainable development goals are still on track, while one-third are stagnant or regressing.Therefore, in this environmental context, countries around the world need to save the sustainable development goals, reevaluate the way the economy operates fundamentally, and redesign the financial system. Currently, Shenzhen is in a leading position in green finance legislation and requires all listed companies who are entitled to preferential green finance policies to disclose environmental information. Such measures are consistent with other financial innovations and can play a crucial role in using resources for the most urgent development needs in the region.

Zuo Jinping, Standing Committee Member and Executive Deputy District Mayor of the Luohu District Committee of Shenzhen, stated that as a key node connecting Shenzhen and Hong Kong, Luohu will focus on creating a link for "industry, rules, and factors," accelerate the creation of a Shenzhen-Hong Kong integration development pioneer zone with the global resource allocation capabilities, deepen Shenzhen-Hong Kong exchanges and cooperation, provide an experimental field for promoting the deep integration development of Shenzhen and Hong Kong, and serve as an important link for domestic and international dual circulation.

Ma Weihua, SDG Impact Global Steering Group Member, Executive Chairperson of CASVI and Chairperson of CASVI, stated that green, low-carbon, and ESG factors are becoming the internal driving force for more and more companies. In this significant process of transformation, the Greater Bay Area has taken on great responsibilities and has already taken the lead. Shenzhen and Hong Kong have both introduced corresponding policies and plans, enriching the sustainable finance ecosystem in the Greater Bay Area and providing a favorable environment for the development of sustainable finance. This has led to strong performance in sustainable finance in the Greater Bay Area. In the future, the Greater Bay Area will continue to be at the forefront of sustainable finance, playing a unique role in promoting sustainable high-quality development. This is also the topic that needs to be explored together at this year's 2nd Greater Bay Area Sustainable Finance Summit.

Ren Tianyang, Secretary of the Party Committee and Chairperson of the Southern Finance Omnimedia Corp., stated that in recent years, the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area has fully leveraged the scientific research capabilities, industrial endowments, and financial resources of central cities such as Hong Kong, Macao, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen.It has made significant progress in upgrading and transforming traditional industries, creating a number of major projects and pillar industries. These industries have laid the foundation for high-quality development in the Greater Bay Area and represent the direction and future of China's economic development.

During the keynote speech session, the three representatives of sustainable finance leaders provided their unique insights on cutting-edge issues. Zhang Zhengwei,Director of Beijing Office and Special Advisor to the Chair of the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB), mentioned, "Today, 'sustainability' has become an important indicator to determine whether a company is sustainable, competitive, and capable of assuming social responsibilities. Sustainable information disclosure has become the mainstream."

Shi Han, Director of ESG Center, HKU ICB, provided sustainable development recommendations for companies: "During the second decade of jointly building the Belt and Road Initiative, Chinese companies should raise the ESG flag high, establish standardized social responsibility management mechanisms, continuously improve governance and transparency levels, further enhance understanding and respect for local culture and traditions, and continuously improve information disclosure and transparency."

Lin Yuandong,CEO of Standard Chartered Greater Bay Area Center, stated, "The Greater Bay Area has tremendous advantages in promoting sustainable finance.From its leading internationalization level, strong government support, to its large market size, competitive industries, profound innovation and technological strength, as well as abundant financial resources and comprehensive financial infrastructure, all provide a solid foundation and opportunities for the development of sustainable finance in the Greater Bay Area."

In the dialogue on finance in the Bay Area, Bao Haijie,Managing Director, Co-Head of Sales & Marketing of HKEX,pointed out that the rapid development of the mainland economy has brought explosive growth opportunities to Hong Kong.In the past decade, Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited has consistently ranked at the forefront of IPO fundraising. As a connector between China and the world, Hong Kong can help investors mitigate corresponding risks in the current context of slowing globalization, better assist Chinese companies in going global, and facilitate foreign companies in expanding into the Chinese market. Liang Hanjing,Head of Finance and Fintech of InvestHK, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), stated that Hong Kong can play a role as an international financial center, contribute to carbon market trading, and help the country grow stronger in the field of renewable energy.

During the morning session of the event, ChinaAMC Fund Management Co., Ltd. and Guoxin Consultancy jointly released the "White Paper on ESG Value Discovery of Central State-Owned Enterprises Listed Companies." CASVI released the "2023 Discovering "Social Value 99"in China:A-share Listed Company Social Value Assessment" and the "China Social Value Evaluation Criteria Research."

In the afternoon of the 27th, two parallel forums, "Gathering Power · Sustainability" and "Talent · Towards the Future," continued to promote cutting-edge concepts in sustainable finance. The "Gathering Power · Sustainability"" forum focused on sustainable finance and discussed three major frontier topics: "Transition Finance: Gathering Strenth to Greenness"; "Information Disclosure: Envisioning the Fourth Statement"; "Belt and Road Initiative: Pioneering ESG Practices of Chinese Enterprises." The forum aimed to gather the strength of government, business, and academia to deeply explore new concepts, trends, and paths for the development of sustainable finance, and provide suggestions for promoting global sustainable finance development.

Transition finance is a significant force in achieving the goals of "peak carbon emissions carbon neutrality" and promoting green, low-carbon, and circular development. The roundtable dialogue on "Transition Finance: Gathering Strenth to Greenness" invited Ge Xing'an, Vice Chairperson of CASVI;Guo Hao, Head of the Transition Finance Program of IFC; Zhu Yuqiang, President of Green Finance SBU of Ping An Bank; Zheng Jianhong, General Manager of South China &President and Managing Director of Shenzhen Branch of Standard Chartered China, and Yan Zhan, Assistant Director of International Institute of International Institute of Green Finance (IIGF),Central University of Finance and Economics,to discuss innovative and improved tools and methods for transformation finance, gatherings of green forces to promote the transformation of the energy industry, and the realization of sustainable development concepts and "dual-carbon" goals.

This year, the release of two standards by the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) marks the beginning of establishing globally recognized high-quality sustainability-related financial information disclosure standards, attracting global attention. The roundtable dialogue on "Information Disclosure: Envisioning the Fourth Statement" invitedBai Hong, Founding Secretary General of CASVI, CEO of SusallWave Digital Technology (Shenzhen)Co.,Ltd.; Fabienne Michaux, Director of UNDP SDG Impact; Zhao Yonggang,Director of the ESG Department ,China Securities Index Co., Ltd. (CSI); Zhang Zhengwei,Director of Beijing Office and Special Advisor to the Chair of the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB); Yu Rong,Head of Greater China, S&P Global Sustainable1, and Cheng Lin, Director of the International Cooperation Research Center at the Beijing Institute of Green Finance and Sustainable Development, to interpret the new ESG policies, analyze the impact of future ESG information disclosure and related standards, and predict the development trends of ESG disclosure in China.

In the past decade, the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area has become a powerful engine for promoting sustainable finance development since the launch of the Belt and Road Initiative. The roundtable dialogue on "Belt and Road Initiative: Pioneering ESG Practices of Chinese Enterprises.” invited Shi Han,Director of ESG Center, HKU ICB, Jiang Anqi, Jiang Anqi,Vice Chairperson of Tianqi Lithium, Huang Junlong, Chief Financial Officer and Board Secretary of China Merchants Shekou , and Huang Xiaomin,Editor-in-chief of Hong Kong Ta Kung Wen Wei Media Group,to share the efforts and achievements made by enterprises in sustainable development in recent years, summarize the experiences gained over the past decade of the Belt and Road Initiative, and contribute to promoting a new practice of China's modernization.

At the end of the forum, Wang Zimu, Founder of Huatai Insurance and Chairperson of CASVI, delivered the closing speech. He stated, "More and more companies are incorporating ESG into their core strategies, many of which have established top-down ESG management frameworks. At the same time, ESG information disclosure standards and rating systems are continuously improving. These signs indicate that ESG has already become more than just a concept; it is now a practice and a form of soft power for companies. Sustainable development is no longer limited to concepts and slogans but is being implemented step by step through various measures and efforts, from the financial side to the corporate side. Coexistence, sharing, and win-win situations will lead to a better future, and good companies will drive social sustainable development."