Asiamoney China Green Finance Awards

Last year, China’s State Council designated five regions where the central government will work with local authorities to build green finance reform and innovation pilot areas; Xinjiang in western China stands out among these.

With the rise of green finance in China has come the rise of onshore green accreditation agencies. The leader among the domestic firms is Beijing Zhongcai Green Financing Consultant, which was spun off from the Green Bonds and Research Institute of China Central Political and Law University. Zhongcai’s director of green bond business is Hanke Zhang.

When it comes to green finance verification in China, Ernst & Young Hua Ming stands out, and this is in part due to the fact that the global audit firm has invested in talent under managing partner Jack Chan.

Beijing-headquartered China Lianhe Credit Rating (or Lianhe Ratings) is one of the market leaders in setting the criteria and standards for China’s green finance industry. As a council member of the Green Finance Committee affiliated to the People’s Bank of China, Lianhe Ratings has promoted the development of the green bond market in China.

Agricultural Bank of China wins the green innovation award for becoming the first in China to successfully issue a green credit asset-backed securitization, or ABS, product.

When it comes to an overseas presence, no Chinese rival can beat Bank of China. Since 2012, green credit financing, both onshore and offshore at the bank, has increased year by year. At the end of 2017, the bank’s green credit portfolio stood at Rmb727 billion ($113.6 billion), an increase of 11.5% year on year. The growth rate was higher than the average growth rate of the bank’s overall corporate credit balance.

The Bank of Communications was founded 110 years ago under the last imperial government specifically for the purpose of issuing bonds.

Among Chinese brokerage houses, CITIC Securities is not only the largest in the field, but also stands out as the leader of the green finance pack. The brokerage firm has a commanding share of the green bond market among brokers and has underwritten a large number of green finance projects that are directly issued by companies themselves.

Of the regional banks in China, Bank of Nanjing in the capital of Jiangsu province stands out from the crowd. The bank has lent Rmb23.7 billion ($3.7 billion) in green finance to support enterprises in their efforts to promote energy conservation, environmental protection and to reduce emissions of pollutants. Its chair is Hu Shengrong.