ESG with Chinese characteristics ‘enormous opportunity’ for investors

Written by Adam Cadle

17/04/2023

ESG with Chinese characteristics presents an “enormous opportunity” for investors in the country, according to Ping An’s board secretary Richard Sheng.

Speaking in a FTSE Russell webinar, titled ESG investing in China: a new paradigm, Sheng said “access to education, poverty alleviation and climate change are key areas of focus when it comes to ESG in China”.

He added: These issues have a great deal of significant in China and this is why we don’t simply purchase data from external resources. We leveraged our investment direction, overall investment strategy, and our own investment logic to build up our ESG system.

“China’s targets to peak carbon emission by 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2060 present an enormous opportunity for green finance in China. These include some investment opportunities that support environmental enhancements, those that address climate change, and those that economise and efficiently use resources.”

Ping An's artificial-intelligence-based CN-ESG Smart Evaluation System, launched in 2021, is helping to drive responsible investment in China. It covers more than 5,000 A-share listed companies in China and more than 2,500 Hong Kong listed companies. It evaluates more than 5,000 corporate credit bond issuers and the green elements of 58,000 bonds in the bond market, nearly 140 fund management companies and more than 14,900 funds. It incorporates domestic and international ESG disclosure standards. Out of all the core issues included in the CN-ESG framework, 87% overlap with at least one international framework and 13% of the indicators are specific to China.

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