China's three main stock markets, the Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE), the Shenzhen Stock Exchange (SZSE) and the Beijing Stock Exchange (BSE), announced the publication of new sustainability reporting guidelines for listed companies, including a new requirement for hundreds of larger capitalization companies. and dual-listed issuers will begin mandatory disclosure on a wide range of ESG topics in 2026.
With the announcement, China joins other major markets in the midst of introducing new sustainability reporting requirements for companies, including the EU's recently released Corporate Sustainable Reporting Directive (CSRD), the upcoming disclosure rules SEC climate change in the US and other jurisdictions, including Australia, Brazil, Singapore and the United Kingdom.
According to new guidelines released by Chinese exchanges, reporting requirements for companies will cover four “core content” topics, including governance, strategy, impact, risk and opportunity management, and indicators and objectives. The topics listed indicate that exchanges are adopting a “dual materiality” approach to sustainability reporting, which includes reporting on the risks and impact of sustainability issues on a company, as well as on the impacts of companies on the environment and society .
According to the exchanges, the key content topics outlined are included in the guidelines “so that investors and stakeholders can fully understand the efforts of listed companies to address and manage sustainable development.”
The guidelines outline reporting requirements across a wide range of environmental, social and governance categories, including climate change, ecosystem and biodiversity protection, circular economy, energy use, supply chain security and rural revitalization, as well as anti-corruption and anti-bribery measures. , between others. Notably, the rules include reporting on greenhouse gas emissions from the Scope 3 value chain, which has been a key point of controversy for the SEC as it prepares its final climate rule as companies have raised concerns about the lack of reliability and the difficulty in collecting values. chain emissions data.
Mandatory reporting requirements under the new guidelines will apply to larger companies, including those in the major indexes Shenzhen 100, SSE 180 and Shanghai Science and Technology Innovation 50, as well as dual-listed companies with securities in national and foreign markets. Overall, the mandatory requirements apply to more than 450 companies, representing around half of the quoted market value. The Beijing exchange, which mainly hosts small and medium-sized companies, is introducing the guidelines on a voluntary basis.
For those included in the mandatory requirements, reporting is expected to begin in 2026, for the 2025 reporting period.
