新浪财经ESG频道及ESG指数发布会精彩回顾(英文)|ESG_新浪财经

　　Sina Finance ESG Channel & ESG index series Launch Event Highlights

“Sina Finance ESG Channel & ESG Index Series" launch event

　　August 20th, 2019 marks the official launch date of Sina Finance's new ESG Channel and ESG index series.

　　This channel is committed to providing timely, comprehensive and objective ESG news contents to our audience through the creation of China's leading ESG platform with professional information and services.

　　With the support of Country Garden, a Fortune Global 500 company, Sina Finance has cooperated with China's leading ESG rating agencies to develop two ESG indexes: the Beautiful China ESG 100 Index and the Shanghai-Shenzhen ESG 100 Select Index.

　　Furthermore, we will also work with one of the leading domestic fund companies — China Southern Asset Management and stock exchanges both domestic and abroad to release ESG products with practical investment values.

　　In the launch event, more than 300 guests from international organizations, academia, enterprises, asset management institutions and stock exchanges gathered to hold a heated discussion on ESG's development in China.

　　During his opening remarks, Deng Qingxu, Senior Vice President of SINA.com expressed his view on ESG. Mr. Deng believes that enterprises in China are increasingly aware of the importance of ESG practices and disclosures. Chinese enterprises have been actively making contributions in ESG-related fields. In doing so, they are able to strengthen the ties among society, shareholders and clients, enhance risk resistance capacity, foster ESG value within enterprises, and establish a positive brand reputation. Moreover, enterprises that are ESG-proficient can significantly reduce financing costs, which is conducive to the long-term sustainable and healthy development of enterprises.

　　From the perspective of global capital market, ESG is an investment concept unanimously endorsed by global asset management institutions, as well as a common language for communication and cooperation between enterprises and financial institutions.

　　Lu Mai, the Vice Chairman and Secretary-General of China Development Research Foundation, also shared his perspective on ESG. He said:

　　“Chinese companies have already accounted for a significant portion of the Fortune Global 500 list. While striving for greater corporate revenues and profits, these companies are also working hard to improve their management know-how and to seek better returns in other aspects. If ESG is incorporated as an important criterion, we can better gauge the progress made in China's economic transformation. This will also clarify the goals of our next step.”

　　Wu Zengtao, Chief Marketing Officer at China Southern Asset Management, said:

　　“The ESG investment concept has been increasingly adopted by international investment institutions as ESG investing gradually becomes a mainstream investing tool. One important reason behind ESG's increasing popularity is that elements of ESG (environmental, social, and corporate governance) play an important role in warding off risks and increasing revenue. Thanks to enriched investment strategies and rapidly developed thematic funds, the total AUM of ESG portfolios continues to grow with significant proof of excess returns in emerging markets.”

　　Sammi Li, China Regional Manager of Euronext said:

　　“According to the 2019 Global Sustainability Report, U.S. and Europe have altogether invested nearly 85 percent of total sustainable assets in the global market. In contrast, Asian investors' appetite for ESG investment is still lukewarm and the main reason behind this phenomenon is the lack of reliable ESG data in Asia. Euronext is very much looking forward to the launch of Sina's ESG channel today, which would surely encourage the development of ESG data in Asian financial markets.”

　　Luo Nan, China country head of The Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI), said that:

　　“ESG is more of an investment strategy that can help investors manage risk better and earn long-term sustainable value. The three main reasons that have been driving ESG investment development are: the significant impact of ESG factors on corporate financials and risks, the growing demands from investors, and strengthening oversight of regulatory agencies.”

　　Wang Yao, General Director of International Institute of Green Finance at CUFE (China's Central University of Finance and Economics), said:

　　“In China, we think ESG is perfectly in line with three major challenges facing our society. The letter E represents our challenges to reduce pollution; the letter S represents our challenges to achieve poverty alleviation; the letter G represents our challenges to reduce systemic risk in financial markets.”

　　Zhang Rui, Manager Director at SynTao Green Finance, said:

　　“In the past, ESG was largely ignored by the market, and companies with good ESG records barely receive prioritized findings. However, industry frontrunners like China Southern Asset Management have now embraced ESG criteria to make their investment decisions. Under circumstances like this, the stock performance of publicly listed companies with higher ESG ratings will gradually improve, making the correlation between company performance and ESG-ratings much stronger.”