ESG Research Center

ESG Research Center at IIGF is supports the development of ESG reporting in China and internationally.  The Team has developed the biggest in ESG Database in China that currently covers more than 8,000 Chinese companies, including all A-share listed companies and bond issuers. 

Relying on this database, ESG Research Center developed an IIGF ESG Rating System that applies Chinese characteristics to international ESG reporting standards. Based on this indicator system, the ESG Research Center released the 13 ESG indices, including Beautiful China ESG100 Index, CSI 300 Green Leading Stock Index, CSI CUFE SH-SZ 100 ESG leading index, CUFE-CNI (displayed in the Luxembourg stock exchange). The indices aim to provide greater transparency and facilitate access to green securities for investors in Europe and help raise the international influence of China’s green finance and attract foreign investors.

Research outputs:

(APRIL 25, 2022)

Interview with Wang Yao, Director of International Institute of Green Finance, CUFE, regarding Compulsory ESG Information Disclosure and  ESG Market in China

In April 2022, China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) issued the Working Guidelines for the Investor Relations Management of Listed Companies (2022) (hereinafter called the Guidelines), which were implemented on May 15. For the first time, the concept of   ESG has been included in guidance regarding investor relations management. In this interview Wang Yao answers the most relevant questions about the future of the ESG information disclosure in China.


(APRIL 14, 2022)

Research report: “The Methods and Applications of Environmental and Climate Risk Assessment and Stress Testing”

The project jointly launched by IIGF and NRDC, focuses on environmental and climate risk management of financial institutions and energy companies, especially stress testing methods and explores “how to comprehensively consider the credit risk and market risk brought by environmental and climate issues from the perspective of financial institutions and improve institutions’ ability to deal with environmental risks” and “how to incorporate environmental factors such as carbon prices, water prices, sewage charges and environmental protection taxes into the corporate environmental risk change system to accelerate the low-carbon transformation of fossil energy companies.”


ESG indicator system with Chinese characteristics

Due to a lack of understanding of Chinese characteristics, international ESG reporting systems do not adequately measure the ESG performance of the Chinese enterprise and face challenges in adapting to the Chinese market. This article analyzes the reasons behind the failure of the international ESG index systems in China and proposes alternative indicator system.

Corporate ESG Performance and
Stock Liquidity

With great international interest in ESG investment, many empirical and theoretical studies have been carried out on ESG. This paper studies the relationship between corporate ESG performance and financial performance of the companies that were listed on the CSI 300 index between January 2016 and June 2019.