Guidelines encouraging companies listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE) to report on their sustainability performance have boosted the rate and quality of sustainability disclosure by 21% since 2008, according to the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI).The SSE, founded in 1990, is mainland China's pre-eminent stock market, with a market capitalization of around US$2.3 trillion.
5 September 2012: According to an analysis by the capital market research institute of the Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE), the number of SSE-listed companies disclosing their sustainability performance has increased by 21% since 2008, when the SSE issued a policy encouraging companies to do so. The findings were highlighted by the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), which also notes that between the years 2001-2011, the number of sustainability reports issued in China increased from two to 1001.
GRI highlights the role of China’s stock exchanges in advancing corporate social responsibility (CSR) through initiatives such as SSE’s CSR Index launched in 2010, which showcases the top 100 companies in terms of social responsibility performance. The SSE has expressed hope that a unified Chinese CSR reporting framework can be developed. GRI’s research coordinator in China, Elyse Chen, notes that the challenge now is to reach a broader, more localized market in China.
The SSE, founded in 1990, is mainland China’s pre-eminent stock market, with a market capitalization of around US$2.3 trillion.
GRI is a multi-stakeholder, network-based organization headquartered in Amsterdam, Netherlands, promoting transparent corporate sustainability reporting worldwide, and working in partnership with the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), the UN Global Compact, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and others. [GRI Press Release] [Publication: SSE Analysis Report (Chinese)]