CSRC: Promoting the use of third-party authentication or verification for ESG reports

On February 28th, the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) website concentratedly published replies to proposals from the Third Session of the Fourteenth National People's Congress and suggestions from the Third Session of the Fourteenth National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. In its response to the proposal "Accelerating the Disclosure of Information of Listed Companies in China and Countermeasures", the CSRC stated that it will guide securities exchanges to continuously summarize the best practices of listed companies, strengthen the dynamic assessment of information disclosure guidelines for sustainable development reports of listed companies, continuously enhance the adaptability, effectiveness, and operability of the rules, and improve the system of information disclosure for the sustainable development of listed companies. The CSRC stated that it will promote the use of third-party certification or verification of ESG reports. The guidelines for information disclosure of sustainable development reports of listed companies encourage the introduction of third-party certification or verification to improve the quality of information disclosure and standardize the disclosure of the independence, experience, qualifications of third-party institutions, as well as the scope, basis, and main procedures of their certification or verification reports. The CSRC stated that in the next step, it will continue to pay attention to the international and domestic theories, rules, and practices of information verification for sustainable development.