China Finance with A Cup of Tea Episode 4: China's Green Finance - Promoting ESG and Decarbonization

China’s embrace of green finance is becoming too big for international investors to ignore. Since China’s central bank promulgated guidelines to build a greener financial system in 2016, much has been achieved. The country now has the largest green credit balance and is home to the second-largest green bond market.

The pace has accelerated since President Xi Jinping’s carbon neutrality pledge in 2020. Green finance plays a critical role by mobilizing and channeling capital into China’s green transition, especially in green technologies and improved energy and emission intensity, presenting huge market opportunities.

Meanwhile, a range of practical challenges remain. Nonaligned green bonds standards, as well as limited ESG disclosure by listing companies, are still hindering foreign investors from tapping China’s green finance market. The timeline to financialize the world’s largest carbon market has not been decided yet.

In the fourth episode of “China Finance with a Cup of Tea,” Caixin invited Mr. Michael SHEREN, senior advisor within the Bank of England and the United Nations Development Programme Finance Hub, and Dr. BAI Bo, chairman and CEO of the Asia Green Fund, to share their insights on green finance in China and what international investors can do to navigate this market.