State Council Information Office: Make every effort to do a good job in green finance

In the past two days, the State Council Information Office has held a series of press conferences in the financial field. Pan Gongsheng, Governor of the People's Bank of China, Xiao Yuanqi, Deputy Director of the State Administration of Financial Regulation, Li Mingxiao, Spokesperson of the State Administration of Financial Supervision and Director of the Policy Research Department, and other relevant responsible persons attended the press conference to introduce the high-quality economic and social development of financial services. The reporter combed through the content of the release and found that green finance has become a high-frequency hot word.

The People's Bank of China will set up a credit market department Green finance is one of the priorities

 "At present, China's banking industry ranks first in the world in terms of assets, the scale of the bond market ranks second in the world, and the scale of foreign exchange reserves ranks first in the world for 19 consecutive years. The development of digital finance, green finance and inclusive finance is at the forefront of the world. Pan Gongsheng said at the press conference.

In recent years, China has made significant progress in the reform and development of the financial system. In 2023, the People's Bank of China will further enhance the effectiveness of monetary policy in promoting economic restructuring, transformation and upgrading, and the transformation of old and new kinetic energy, and guide financial institutions to increase credit support for key areas and weak links.

Building a financial power is a long-term goal and a systematic project, which needs to adhere to the basic logic of marketization, rule of law and internationalization, and requires long-term efforts and long-term achievements. The People's Bank of China also plays an important role in building a strong financial institution, a strong international financial center, a strong financial supervision and a strong contingent of financial talents.

Pan Gongsheng said that with the approval of the central government, the People's Bank of China will set up a credit market department, focusing on the "five major articles" of science and technology finance, green finance, inclusive finance, pension finance and digital finance.

In addition, the People's Bank of China (PBoC) has focused on improving the efficiency of its financial structure, continuing to implement inclusive small and micro loan support tools and inclusive pension special re-lending, appropriately increasing the re-lending and re-discounting quota for supporting agriculture and small enterprises, and expanding the support objects, scope and scale of carbon emission reduction support tools.

"In the next step, we will continue to give full play to the dual functions of monetary policy tools, strengthen tool innovation, pay more attention to the relationship between total amount and structure, stock and increment, and relax the identification standard of inclusive small and micro loans from the current single-account credit of no more than 10 million yuan to no more than 20 million yuan. Pan Gongsheng said.

We will continue to promote the banking and insurance industries to increase financial support for green development

"We have always attached great importance to green finance, and China's green finance has been at the forefront of the world. As of the end of 2023, the green credit balance of 21 major banks reached 27.2 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 31.7%. Li Mingxiao said at the press conference.

What are the specific implementation plans and incentives for China to promote green finance, and how to continue to promote the banking and insurance industries to increase financial support for green development?

In this regard, Li Mingxiao said that the State Administration of Financial Supervision has promoted the implementation of the "Guidelines for Green Finance in the Banking and Insurance Industry" in terms of strengthening the supervision and guidance of green finance, strengthened tracking and monitoring supervision, organized a symposium on green financial services, and guided banking and insurance institutions to develop green finance from a strategic height. At the same time, we will increase support for the green, low-carbon and circular economy, prevent environmental and social governance risks, improve our own environmental, social and governance performance, study and improve green finance support measures in the fields of industry, construction, and ecological environmental protection, guide local governments to carry out green finance practice exploration, and improve various supporting policy measures.

At the same time, the State Administration of Financial Supervision (SAFS) continues to improve its statistical monitoring of green finance.

"We regularly organize banking institutions to carry out green financing data statistics, give full play to the supporting role of various funds, and guide bank credit funds to support the development of green and low-carbon industries in accordance with the principles of marketization and rule of law. At the same time, we will improve the statistical standards for green insurance, and promote insurance institutions to strengthen risk protection in environmental resource protection and social governance, green industry and green life consumption. In 2023, the premium income of green insurance business will reach 229.7 billion yuan, and the compensation expenditure will be 121.46 billion yuan. Li Mingxiao said.

In addition, the State Administration of Financial Supervision (SAFS) regards the development of green finance as an important reference for the daily supervision, on-site inspection and corporate governance requirements of banking and insurance institutions, and strengthens incentives and constraints for the development of green finance. They organized 21 major banks to carry out green credit self-evaluation, urging them to self-check their green credit work against relevant regulatory systems and standards and rectify them in a timely manner.

Continuously improve the service quality and efficiency of green finance and promote the green transformation of economic and social development

Expanding and enriching financial instruments is an important part of satisfying the multi-level and diversified financial needs of the broad masses of the people. In the field of green finance, the State Administration of Financial Supervision has also taken the enrichment of products and services as one of its key tasks, supporting the expansion of green insurance coverage, the development of green trusts and green leasing, and the orderly expansion of green consumer credit business.

"We encourage banking and insurance institutions to develop climate-friendly green financial products and provide diversified and differentiated financial services based on the needs of green and low-carbon project financing and risk management based on their own functional positioning under the premise of legal compliance, controllable risks and commercial sustainability. Li Mingxiao said.

The Central Financial Work Conference stressed that financial work should focus on comprehensively strengthening supervision and preventing and defusing risks. At present, the comprehensive operation of the financial industry is developing in depth, and financial risks are becoming more hidden, complex and contagious, so it is particularly important to comprehensively strengthen financial supervision. In the field of green finance, strengthening risk management is also one of the key tasks.

"We have established an information sharing mechanism with relevant industry authorities to promote regulatory coordination. Urge banking and insurance institutions to establish and improve green financial management systems, and incorporate environmental, social and governance requirements into the comprehensive risk management system. Li Mingxiao said.

At the same time, the State Administration of Financial Supervision strictly controls the carbon emissions of new financing projects, resolutely curbs the blind development of high-energy-consuming, high-emission and low-level projects, ensures energy security and industrial and supply chain security while reducing carbon emissions, and guides banking and insurance institutions to actively study and respond to financial risks related to climate change, and strengthen risk management and information disclosure.

"In the next step, the State Administration of Financial Supervision will resolutely implement the decisions and arrangements of the Party Central Committee and the State Council, and we will adhere to the fundamental purpose of providing financial services to the real economy, continue to meet the growing financial needs of the people for economic and social development, improve the green financial system, and support the creation of a green and low-carbon development highland. Xiao Yuanqi said.