Under the overall coordination and guidance of the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC), the Shenzhen Stock Exchange (SZSE) has published the “Self-Regulatory Guidance No. 3 for Companies Listed on Shenzhen Stock Exchange—Preparation of Sustainability Report (2026 Revised Version)” and the “Self-Regulatory Guidance No. 3 for Companies Listed on the ChiNext Market of Shenzhen Stock Exchange—Preparation of Sustainability Report (2026 Revised Version)” (collectively, Guidance), effective as of the date of publication.
The revision of the Guidance came as part of the effort to implement the directives of the Third and Fourth Plenary Sessions of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, and the new “National Nine Guidelines”. With this version of Guidance, the SZSE aims to guide listed companies to actively practice sustainable development concepts and further standardize their disclosure of sustainability information, ensuring better implementation of the “Self-Regulatory Guidelines No. 17 for Companies Listed on Shenzhen Stock Exchange—Sustainability Report (For Trial Implementation)” (hereinafter referred to as the Guidelines).
Previously, SZSE had sought public comments on the revised Guidance. SZSE carefully analyzed and discussed each piece of feedback, adopting suggestions such as adding examples related to pollutant risks and financial impacts, and improving methods for calculating energy and water consumption. Additionally, the wording of the rules was further refined. For some suggestions that were not adopted at this time, further research and consideration will be conducted in light of future market developments.
Three new chapters are included to the revised Guidance, namely “Pollutant Discharge”, “Energy Utilization”, and “Water Resources Utilization”. These chapters provide:
First, detailed explanations of common risks and opportunities pertinent to the topics, including risks related to production capacity restriction incurred by pollutant discharge controls, and increased difficulty in fossil fuel extraction, as well as opportunities like innovation and application of pollution treatment technologies, and reduced discharge cost with the adoption of water recycling system.
Second, general procedures and methods for calculating disclosed data, including information on common types of pollutants and examples of their disclosures, methods for calculating energy consumption, and formulas for calculating energy consumption, and water withdrawals and consumption.
Third, refinement of the requirements in the Guidelines, specifying information to disclose, including pollutant discharge, reduction, total energy consumption, and total water consumption.
SZSE has been advancing towards a leading sustainable exchange, and advocating for relevant practices by cultivating a large number of listed companies which comply with the requirements of sustainable development. In 2025, 1,164 SZSE-listed companies, or over 40% of the SZSE market total, voluntarily published their annual sustainability related reports. Most of the companies, which published sustainability report, have prepared their reports in accordance with the new Guidance framework and relevant topics, with notable improvements achieved in the standardization of the reports and the completeness of the indicators.
As of 2025, 356 SZSE-listed companies have received an ESG rating of A or above from the CSI, and 881 companies from the CNI. On the international ratings front, 25 SZSE-listed companies received an MSCI rating of A or higher, and 18 companies achieved an S&P score of 50 or above. By the end of April this year, the SZSE 100 Index companies, ChiNext Index companies, and companies listed both domestically and overseas will disclose their 2025 annual sustainability reports.
Going forward, SZSE will, in accordance with CSRC's deployment, diligently carry out regulatory services to support listed companies in achieving sustainable development. Specifically, SZSE will, based on practices of other key topics, accelerate the formulation of reporting guidelines and continuously enrich and improve the Guidelines; strengthen market training to provide pragmatic guidance for listed companies in disclosing sustainability information; support the advancement of ESG ratings, index development, and other initiatives to foster a positive investment ecosystem of sustainable development .
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