Asiamoney China Green Finance Awards

All of the big four Chinese banks – Agricultural Bank of China, Bank of China, China Construction Bank and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China – have bet big on the green bond market. But ABC stands out for beating even its own lofty track record during our awards period.

Provincial and regional banks have a huge role to play in boosting the appeal of China’s green finance industry for local governments. No other bank has done this better than the Bank of Huzhou, a local joint-stock commercial firm based in Zhejiang province.

Industrial Bank has become the leading green finance bank in China’s domestic market.

Which banks and other service providers continue to lead the charge in China green finance?

There are many reasons why Industrial Bank beats the big state-owned banks to become the largest bank issuer of green bonds in China, but one contributing factor is its outstanding research capability.

Wang Yao, professor and director general of the International Institute of Green Finance (IIGF) at Beijing-based Central University of Finance and Economics (CUFE), has won international fame not only for her outstanding green finance research, but also for the prominent role she has played in promoting green finance development in China. Wang started research on green finance while working in the banking sector at the start of the millennium. There, she gained first-hand experience of how green finance worked in the real world and why it was urgently needed in China.

Huzhou city was chosen by the central Chinese government in June 2017 as “a pilot green finance reform and innovation zone”. The city quickly took a top-down approach to accelerating the development of green finance, which has proved to very effective.

China Chengxin Credit Management, incorporated in Beijing in 1992, is China’s largest credit rating agency. It has also established itself as a leading domestic green finance verification agency.