Supporting Companies in Attracting More Global Long-Term Capital: SSE Hosts the Sixth "Dialogue with International Investors: Empowering Listed Companies through ESG" Event

Recently, the Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE) hosted the sixth edition of its "Dialogue with International Investors: Empowering Listed Companies through ESG" event, bringing together sustainability experts from global institutions including Norges Bank Investment Management, Neuberger Berman, and S&P Global to exchange insights with SSE-listed companies. The event engaged nearly 90 listed companies, with participants including board secretaries, securities affairs representatives and ESG officers of listed companies.

For global long-term investors, corporate governance and sustainability factors have long been key considerations in investment analysis and decision-making. Under the overarching guidance of the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC), the SSE has set a high premium on helping listed companies generate long-term value and achieve sustainable growth. Since the beginning of this year, the SSE has introduced a package of initiatives. These initiatives include launching the "Corporate Value and Return Enhancement" 2.0 Special Action; further strengthening the capabilities and professional standards of board secretaries while supervising the conduct of key corporate stakeholders; and issuing three new guidelines on the preparation and application of sustainability reports to further bolster institutional frameworks in this field.

Now in its sixth consecutive year, the event aims to establish a communication platform connecting listed companies with long-term international investors and global rating agencies. It is designed to help companies strengthen corporate governance and ESG disclosure while elevating their appeal to global long-term capital. During the event, Norges Bank Investment Management and Neuberger Berman shared insights from the perspectives of asset owners and asset managers, respectively, highlighting key considerations in long-term asset allocation and best practices among companies in global markets. S&P Global, with a focus on climate-related issues, shared representative case studies to introduce its sustainability assessment framework and methodology, providing companies with practical guidance on improving ESG disclosure practices.

The year 2025 marked the 20th anniversary of the "Two Mountains" concept—the idea that lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets—and also represented the first year of mandatory ESG reporting for SSE-listed companies. As of April 30 this year, a total of 1,384 SSE-listed companies had published standalone ESG-related reports, bringing the disclosure rate to 59.7%, an increase of 1.5 percentage points year on year and a new record high. Moving forward, the SSE will continue to launch a series of training programs and investor engagement activities to strengthen two-way communication between international long-term investors and SSE-listed companies. These efforts are expected to support companies in continuously improving their governance standards and sustainability capabilities, while attracting greater global long-term investment into high-quality Chinese enterprises.