Zhu Kai, a reporter from the Securities Times.
The 2021 Shanghai Stock Exchange International Investor Conference was held online and offline from October 25th to 27th, and nearly 100 representatives from global financial institutions talked about the new investment opportunities under China's new development pattern.
Among them, around the topic of "Shanghai's construction of an international green financial hub" and "towards the mainstream: the global trend of ESG investment and China's prospects", the reporter noted that responsible persons from overseas exchanges and financial institutions at home and abroad expressed conflicting views.
Green financial hub construction
Contains opportunities
Zhang Shouchuan, president of Bank of China Ltd. Shanghai Branch, said that Bank of China Ltd. has been committed to serving green development, bringing green finance into the Group's 14th five-year Plan and building a green financial service system. In the future, we will continue to increase the supply of green credit, enrich the supply of green products, and create a "green + inclusive", "green + account" and "green + carbon finance" service model to support low-carbon industrial transformation and technological innovation. to help build an international green financial hub in Shanghai.
Julie Becker, chief executive of the Luxembourg Stock Exchange, said the long-standing cooperation between the Shanghai Stock Exchange and the Luxembourg Stock Exchange in the field of green finance is a typical example of promoting international investors' access to China's financial market through global cooperation. From the landmark double listing of green bonds to the "green bond information communication" that creatively presents China's domestic green bond information to international investors, the two sides have become close partners.
Fu Chenggang, chief representative of Abu Dhabi International Financial Center and Financial Services Regulatory Authority in China, believes that under the current economic situation, there is more room for cross-border investment cooperation among global international financial centers around ESG, and the need is more urgent. He said that global sovereign wealth institutions and institutional investors can continue to increase investment in China's carbon neutralization and green science and technology innovation, improve primary equity investment and secondary market allocation; increase the allocation of Science and Technology Innovation Board's environmental and carbon reduction technology enterprises, and jointly set up special funds.
Look forward to
China's ESG guidelines issued
Nandini Sukumar, CEO of the World Federation of exchanges (WFE), pointed out that the stock exchange has a special status and is at the intersection of investors, companies and regulators, and can play a key role in promoting responsible investment and sustainable development.
According to public data, in 2018, the "WFE Sustainable Exchange principles" was issued under the leadership of the Shanghai Stock Exchange. In the same year, the Shanghai Stock Exchange's Vision and Action Plan for serving Green Development and promoting Green Finance was released. According to the reporter, Li Yingying, deputy director of the International Cooperation Department of the Shanghai Stock Exchange, currently serves as vice chairman of the WFE working Group on Sustainable Development on behalf of the Shanghai Stock Exchange.
In this regard, Nandini Sukumar said that at present, China is planning to promote the establishment of a mandatory disclosure system step by step and promises to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060, which is very encouraging, and the launch of China's carbon market is also a strong measure for this. Globally, a number of countries have made effective use of the carbon compliance market to reduce emissions by providing economic rewards and punishments, including credit, tradable carbon quotas and so on.
Wu Jiaqing, chairman of the MSCI Greater China Operations decision Committee, believes that ESG investment has become a global mainstream trend, which can effectively control risks and bring long-term benefits in the long run. Companies with better ESG management tend to be better at managing risks and opportunities. Trillions of dollars have poured into ESG funds over the past few years and will continue to grow rapidly in the future. Since 2018 when MSCI covered A-share ESG rating, the ESG level of Chinese enterprises has been continuously improved. Wu Jiaqing said that she expects China's ESG guidelines to be issued as soon as possible to promote the further development of the industry.
Li Yimei, general manager of Huaxia Fund, believes that ESG investment is in line with value investment and fundamental-driven investment. The most basic investment concept of Huaxia Fund is that ESG is not only a separate theme or product label, it must be a kind of values and grass-roots investment logical framework for us to treat investment.
"We attach great importance to the communication of listed companies and strive to improve the level of disclosure of listed companies and enhance the effectiveness of corporate governance." Li Yimei believes that ESG investment does not have to sacrifice income.