Kanni Wignaraja Visits Shenzhen, Engages Local Industry on FinTech and Sustainable Finance
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On November 14, 2023, Ms. Kanni Wignaraja, Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations and Assistant Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), along with the Director of the Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific, visited Shenzhen. To facilitate exchanges and collaboration between the United Nations delegation and Shenzhen in the fields of financial technology and sustainable finance, the Shenzhen Municipal Financial Regulatory Bureau organized a special symposium. Shenzhen invited experts from the political, business, and academic sectors to join the delegation to discuss how financial technology and sustainable finance drive economic, environmental, and social harmony and coexistence, and to share typical cases of sustainable development in Shenzhen. During the symposium, Mr. He Jie, Director of Shenzhen Municipal Financial Regulatory Bureau, provided a detailed overview of the overall economic and financial development in Shenzhen, as well as the experiences in the development of financial technology and sustainable finance. He mentioned that financial technology in Shenzhen has become one of the leaders in the Asia-Pacific region, showcasing the following characteristics: First, it boasts a large number of leading financial technology companies such as Ping An Technology, Tencent FinTech, and WeBank, along with emerging enterprises like Kingdee. Second, it has a comprehensive financial technology ecosystem with multiple financial technology infrastructures established in Shenzhen. Third, it possesses a rich array of financial technology application scenarios, with regulatory technology and compliance technology being prominent. Fourth, it has a well-established talent development system for financial technology. It initiated the world's first financial technology talent program, the 'Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Macao Financial Technology Specialists' program, currently comprising 2340 first-level certificate holders and 200 second-level certificate holders. In the field of sustainable finance, Shenzhen has undertaken many exemplary practices: it released the world's first comprehensive legislation, the 'Shenzhen Special Economic Zone Green Finance Regulations,' mandating financial institutions to take the lead in environmental information disclosure and green investment assessments. Simultaneously, financial technology has been widely applied in the field of sustainable finance, leading to a new batch of best practices this year. For instance, the Shenzhen branch of China Construction Bank launched the Policy Subsidy Direct Access Platform, achieving instant access and rapid realization of policy benefits for the public and enterprises. China Reinsurance Corporation introduced the 'E-Road Guardian Comprehensive Protection Service' to provide protection for new forms of employment such as delivery personnel, courier workers, and truck drivers. Shenzhen's initiative, the 'Women Directors' Proposal' at Honey Lake, advocates for increased representation and proportion of women in the board of directors of listed companies. In recent years, Shenzhen has engaged in extensive exchanges and cooperation with international financial centers such as Hong Kong, Singapore, London, Tokyo, and Abu Dhabi. Ms. Ma Weihua, Chairperson of CASVI and UNDP SDG Impact Steering Group Member , pointed out that Shenzhen is one of the first batch of Innovation Demonstration Zones for the United Nations Development Agenda by the State Council, consistently leading in sustainable finance domestically. Over the past 8 years, the Social Investment Alliance has been exploring in the formulation of sustainable development standards. Each year, we select 99 stocks from the Shanghai and Shenzhen 300 Index according to the standards of considering environment, society, and economy, forming the 'Yili 99 Index,' and have released the Blue Book for five consecutive years, revealing the trend of capital toward goodness and promoting sustainable development. Based on this foundation, we have developed a series of applications such as rankings, ratings, blue books, and special reports. We have also listed the SZSE Component ESG 100 Index on the Shanghai Stock Exchange and launched the Bosera Sustainable Development 100 ETF public fund with joint cooperation from other partners and the Shenzhen Local Financial Supervision Administration. Additionally, the Greater Bay Area Sustainable Finance Forum, co-hosted by the Shenzhen Financial Supervision Administration, the Social Investment Alliance, and other partners, has successfully held two sessions. Every year, we invite experts from home and abroad to gather and discuss high-quality sustainable development, aiming to build an international exchange platform for sustainable finance and work together to achieve sustainable development goals. Representatives from institutions such as the Shenzhen Green Finance Association, the Capital Market Institute, the Chinese University of Hong Kong (Shenzhen), the Southern University of Science and Technology's Institute of Finance, the Shenzhen Innovation Enterprise Social Responsibility Promotion Center, WeBank, and Tencent Group attended the symposium. Participating institutions expressed their commitment to strengthen exchanges and cooperation with international organizations in the fields of financial technology and sustainable finance, fostering a healthy ecosystem of mutual learning and development. In the future, CASVI will continue to work closely with the United Nations Development Programme and partners from all sectors of society to promote the development of sustainable finance and jointly realize the concept of sustainable development."
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