China releases its first ESG disclosure standard with Ping An's participation

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Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China, Ltd.

May 11, 2022, 10:01 ET

Promoting ESG development with Chinese characteristics

HONG KONG and SHANGHAI, May 11, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China, Ltd. (hereafter "Ping An" or the "Group", HKEx:2318; SSE:601318) announced that it has helped to develop China's first ESG disclosure standard, the "Guidance for Enterprise ESG Disclosure", published by the China Enterprise Reform and Development Society (CERDS). The Guidance, effective on June 1, 2022, was developed with the participation of Ping An and dozens of other companies in China.

In recent years, awareness of environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues has grown in China, as has the demand for enterprises to make ESG disclosures. However, the common international ESG rating standards are difficult to match with the operating conditions in China. The "Guidance for Enterprise ESG Disclosure" is based on relevant Chinese laws, regulations, and standards while considering China's context. The Guidance includes a corporate ESG disclosure indicator system with three dimensions – environmental, social, and governance – and provides a basic framework for ESG disclosure. The Guidance also specifies disclosure principles, indicators, requirements, applications, responsibilities, and supervision for enterprises of different types, industries, and sizes. The Guidance can support Chinese enterprises in their ESG governance practices and disclosure, serving as a reference for self-evaluation and third-party evaluation.

CERDS had strict requirements for companies participating in the development of the guidance standard. The companies must have outstanding performance and be ranked among the top in their industries, with high social influence and reputation. They must fully, accurately and comprehensively implement the concept of sustainable development in their operations, promote the construction of a corporate ESG system and achieve outstanding ESG outcomes.

Sharing experience as an ESG pioneer in China

As a pioneer in ESG in China, Ping An participated in the drafting of the disclosure framework, sharing its practical experience in ESG. It incorporated its proprietary CN-ESG evaluation system framework into the disclosure guidance to provide a standardized scientific approach for corporate ESG information disclosure. Ping An also made suggestions on the coverage of international standards, the setting of indicators with Chinese characteristics, applicability to different industries, and the setting of scoring standards.

The "Guidance for Enterprise ESG Disclosure" is an important milestone for Ping An to promote the development of an ESG system with Chinese characteristics. Ping An's proprietary ESG management concepts and experience have been widely recognized by government organizations, industry experts and other organizations that have collaborated with Ping An. As a longtime advocate of corporate ESG, Ping An has been pursuing sustainable development and related disclosure practices for many years. It has published its annual sustainability report for the last 14 years. It was also the first financial institution in China to release a TCFD (Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures) report and disclose the carbon emissions of its overall assets. Driven by its sustainability strategy, Ping An integrates the core philosophies and standards of ESG into corporate management. It has built a professional sustainability management framework to guide its business practices. Ping An continues to advance its "integrated finance + healthcare" strategy and develop its industry ecosystems of "finance + eldercare" and "finance + healthcare" to create value for its shareholders, customers, employees, communities, partners and the environment, seeking to boost both business and societal value.

About Ping An Group

Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China, Ltd. ("Ping An") strives to become a world-leading retail financial services group. With over 223 million retail customers and nearly 657 million internet users, Ping An is one of the largest financial services companies in the world. Ping An focuses on two over-arching domains of activity, "integrated finance" and "healthcare", covering the provision of financial and health care services through its integrated financial services platform and ecosystems in financial services, healthcare, auto services and smart city services. The "finance + technology" and "finance + ecosystem" strategies aim to provide customers and internet users with innovative and simple products and services using technology. As China's first joint stock insurance company, Ping An is committed to upholding the highest standards of corporate reporting and corporate governance. The Group is listed on the stock exchanges in Hong Kong and Shanghai. Ping An ranked 6th in the Forbes Global 2000 list in 2021 and ranked 16th in the Fortune Global 500 list in 2021. Ping An also ranked 49th in the 2021 WPP Kantar Millward Brown BrandZ^TM Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands list.