As the world economy faces multiple uncertainties in 2023, mitigating climate change and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) remain the consensus and common goals of economies across the globe. In September 2020, China set the ambitious goal of peaking carbon emissions by 2030 and achieving carbon neutrality by 2060. The "dual carbon" goals have served as an important guide for the country's economic development and financial work. Despite the sluggish growth of the global economy, sustainable investment and green finance in China's capital markets have continued to grow at a rapid pace, and the number of new sustainable investment products has increased by leaps and bounds. The concepts of ESG, responsible investment, and climate risk and opportunity management have gained mainstream recognition.
Based on public information, China Sustainable Investment Review 2023 (the "Report") has mapped out the status quo and the size of sustainable investment in China. As compiled by the China Sustainable Investment Forum (China SIF), the green credit balance stood at RMB 28.58 trillion; the AUM of ESG mutual securities funds totalled RMB 438.311 billion; the outstanding size of green bonds stood at RMB 2.15 trillion; the sustainability-linked bond was RMB 114.89 billion; the social bond was RMB 760.979 billion; the transition bond was RMB 37.78 billion; the outstanding size of sustainable wealth management products was RMB 158.6 billion; the total amount of ESG private equity funds was about RMB 434.3 billion1; and the total amount of green industry funds was about RMB 384.8 billion.
This Report summarised the international development trends of sustainable investment, reviewed the progress of China's responsible sustainable policies and financial institutions' sustainable investment practices in recent years, mapped out existing ESG stock indices, mutual funds and wealth management products, and shared the results from the survey regarding individual investors' attitude towards sustainable investment and asset owners' attitude towards stewardship.