Wu Qing, the new chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, once promoted green finance at the Shanghai Stock Exchange

According to Xinhua News Agency on 7 February, the CPC Central Committee has decided to appoint Comrade Wu Qing as secretary of the party committee of the China Securities Regulatory Commission and remove Comrade Yi Huiman from the post of secretary of the party committee of the China Securities Regulatory Commission. The State Council has decided to appoint Comrade Wu Qing as chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission and to remove Comrade Yi Huiman from his post as chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission.

According to public information, Wu Qing served as chairman and party secretary of the Shanghai Stock Exchange from May 2016 to December 2017. Although it has not been for a long time, during Wu Qing's tenure, the Shanghai Stock Exchange has done several major things in green finance.

First, in September 2017, the Shanghai Stock Exchange joined the United Nations Sustainable Stock Exchange Initiative (UN SSE), becoming the first stock exchange in China to join the initiative. In December of the same year, the Shenzhen Stock Exchange announced its accession to the UN SSE. In June of the following year, HKEX also announced its membership in the UN SSE. At that time, Wu Qing also served as the chairman of the board of directors of the World Federation of Exchanges (WFE), and promoted the Shanghai Stock Exchange to take the lead in formulating the sustainable exchange principles as the chairman of the WFE. In October 2018, the WEF finally published the Sustainable Exchange Principles.

Second, in 2017, the Shanghai Stock Exchange established a leading group for the promotion of green finance and sustainable development, and formulated the "Vision and Action Plan for Serving Green Development and Promoting Green Finance from 2018 to 2020". This document was released in April 2018, proposing 14 measures in five aspects, including "promoting the stock market to support green development", "actively developing green bonds", "vigorously promoting green investment", "deepening international cooperation in green finance" and "strengthening green finance research and publicity", which greatly promoted the green finance work of the Shanghai Stock Exchange in the following years.

Third, the Shanghai Stock Exchange promotes the development of innovative products such as green bonds. In September 2017, the Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE) announced that it had held a memorandum of cooperation (MoU) signing ceremony with the Luxembourg Stock Exchange to jointly promote further cooperation between the two firms in the field of green bonds. In his speech, Wu Qing pointed out:

This year is not only the 45th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Rwanda, but also a year for the in-depth development of green finance. The close cooperation between the Shanghai Stock Exchange and the Rwanda Stock Exchange in the field of green finance is not only a microcosm of the long-term friendship between China and Rwanda, but also reflects the common pursuit of sustainable development by stock exchanges with different regions and characteristics. The two firms will continue to lead the industry trend through cooperation and jointly pursue the sustainable development of the capital market.

In addition, the Shanghai Stock Exchange released the "2017 Social Responsibility Report" in March 2018, which is the first corporate social responsibility report in the history of the Shanghai Stock Exchange, and has been released every year since then. According to the time projection (estimate), the internal project establishment and launch time of the "2017 Social Responsibility Report" is estimated to be in 2017, so as to be released in time for March 2018.

After leaving the Shanghai Stock Exchange, Wu Qing served as the deputy mayor of Shanghai and deputy secretary of the Shanghai Municipal Party Committee, and also issued important opinions on the development of green finance in Shanghai on many occasions. These are listed below:

In April 2021, at the 2021 Shanghai Financial System Work Conference, Wu Qing pointed out:

It is necessary to implement the goal of "carbon peak and carbon neutrality", and strive to build a green finance hub that connects domestic and international dual circulation. Support the construction of the national carbon emission trading market, develop carbon finance business, and further form a multi-level green financial organization system, a diversified green financial product and service system, and a multi-channel market platform system for the integration of green industry and finance and industrial transformation. Support the Yangtze River Delta Ecological Green Integrated Development Demonstration Zone to apply for the construction of a green finance reform and innovation pilot zone, promote regional and international cooperation, and orderly promote the two-way opening of the green financial market.  

In December 2021, at the "2021 Shanghai International Financial Center Development Forum", Wu Qing said:

Shanghai will further serve the "dual carbon" strategy, innovate various green financial products such as green credit, green insurance, and green securities, and accelerate the development of science and technology finance.

In July 2022, at the 2022 China Socially Responsible Investment Summit, Wu Qing said:

In the next step, Shanghai will unswervingly implement the new development concept, actively support the expansion of socially responsible investment, and guide more financial activities to flow to key areas such as green and low-carbon development, financing of small, medium and micro enterprises, and people's city construction.

In November 2022, at the Hongqiao International Economic Forum of the 5th CIIE, Wu Qing pointed out that:

In the process of green and low-carbon transformation, Shanghai has given full play to its unique advantages of a complete financial market, a concentration of financial institutions, and active financial innovation, and actively promoted financial support for green development.  

In December 2022, at the "2022 Shanghai International Public Relations Forum", Wu Qing said:

In the future, Shanghai will continue to strengthen scientific and technological support, strengthen the innovation, promotion and application of green and low-carbon technologies, give full play to the role of the market, improve the carbon trading system, enrich the varieties and methods of market transactions, accelerate the creation of a green financial system, and guide financial institutions to provide more long-term and low-cost financial support for green and low-carbon projects.

During Wu Qing's tenure in charge of financial work, Shanghai successively issued the "Implementation Opinions on Accelerating the Construction of an International Green Finance Hub in Shanghai to Serve the Carbon Peak and Carbon Neutrality Goals" (issued by the General Office of the Municipal Government in October 2021), the "Several Provisions on the Development of Green Finance in Pudong New Area" (adopted by the Standing Committee of the Shanghai Municipal People's Congress in July 2022), and the "Action Plan for Promoting the Development of Green Finance and Serving the Carbon Peak and Carbon Neutrality Strategy of Shanghai's Banking and Insurance Industry during the 14th Five-Year Plan Period" (In December 2022, the Shanghai Banking and Insurance Regulatory Bureau and other eight departments issued it), the development of green finance has accelerated significantly.