The Ministry of Finance has issued a consultation on basic guidelines, steadily promoting the construction of a sustainable disclosure guidelines system.

On May 27, the Ministry of Finance issued the "Guidelines for Corporate Sustainability Reporting - Basic Guidelines (Consultation Draft)" and the drafting instructions. Based on international guidelines, the national unified sustainability reporting guidelines that reflect beneficial experiences from international guidelines, are in line with China's national conditions, and highlight Chinese characteristics were established. The consultation draft of the "Basic Guidelines" consists of six chapters and 33 articles, covering general principles, disclosure objectives and principles, information quality requirements, disclosure elements, other disclosure requirements, and appendices. The Ministry of Finance stated that the drafting of the consultation draft of the "Basic Guidelines" adheres to the overall concept of "actively learning from others, putting ourselves first, inclusiveness, and highlighting characteristics." On one hand, emphasizing Chinese characteristics. The consultation draft of the "Basic Guidelines" makes provisions based on China's actual situation in terms of drafting purposes, scope of application, disclosure objectives, standards of importance, organizational structure, and some technical requirements. On the other hand, the consultation draft of the "Basic Guidelines" actively draws on beneficial experiences from international guidelines and maintains overall alignment with S1 (general requirements for the disclosure of sustainable-related financial information) in terms of information quality characteristics, disclosure elements, and related disclosure requirements. Regarding the implementation of the "Basic Guidelines," the Ministry of Finance stated that it will not adopt a "one-size-fits-all" mandatory implementation requirement. Instead, it will take a strategy of focusing on different areas, piloting first, progressing gradually, and promoting in stages. It will expand from listed companies to non-listed companies, from large enterprises to small and medium-sized enterprises, from qualitative requirements to quantitative requirements, and from voluntary disclosure to mandatory disclosure. The consultation draft of the "Basic Guidelines" clearly outlines the overall goals: by 2027, China will issue basic guidelines for sustainable reporting and climate-related reporting guidelines successively. By 2030, the national unified sustainable reporting guidelines system will be basically established. Due to the long construction period of the guidelines system, relevant departments may first develop disclosure guidelines and regulatory systems for specific industries or areas based on actual needs and gradually adjust and improve them in the future. Erkki Liikanen, Chair of the Trustees of the International Financial Reporting Standards Foundation, stated, "We welcome the announcement by the Chinese Ministry of Finance to establish national unified sustainable information disclosure guidelines based on the ISSB guidelines. I am very grateful to the Chinese Ministry of Finance for their continuous support for the establishment of global standards since the establishment of the ISSB." (Link ESG Researcher Deng Shixia)