To thoroughly implement the guiding principles of the Central Financial Work Conference and the "Opinions of the State Council on Strengthening Supervision, Preventing Risks, and Promoting the High-Quality Development of the Capital Market", as well as to implement the requirements of the policy documents such as the "Opinions on Strengthening the Regulation of Listed Companies (Trial)" issued by the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC), under the guidance of the CSRC, SZSE officially released the "Guidelines No. 17 for Self-Regulation of Listed Companies - Sustainability Reporting (Trial)" (hereinafter referred to as the "Guidelines") on April 12 to further standardize the information disclosure of listed companies' sustainability. The Guidelines will be formally implemented from May 1, 2024.

In the early stage, SZSE has publicly solicited public comments on the Guidelines and received more than 80 responses. The market widely acknowledges the positive impact of the Guidelines and has provided suggestions on the disclosure time, topic index, scope of mandatory disclosures, etc. SZSE has analyzed and discussed the comments, and adopted opinions such as optimizing the chapter structure and style, adding an index table of topics, and extending the disclosure time for sustainability reporting. Additionally, for opinions that have not been adopted, further consideration will be given based on market developments.

The Guidelines consist of 63 articles in 6 chapters. First, in terms of topics, 21 specific topics are set for environmental, social, and sustainable development-related governance, including addressing climate change, innovation-driven development, and rural revitalization. It is specified that if the topics to be disclosed are of financial importance, companies shall analyze and disclose them based on four core elements of "governance - strategy - impact, risk and opportunity management - indicators and targets". If the topics are only of impact importance to the company, they shall be disclosed in accordance with the relevant regulations on specific topics. Second, in terms of implementation, a transitional period arrangement is clearly defined. Companies that continue to be included as constituents in Shenzhen 100 Index and ChiNext Index during the reporting period, as well as companies listed simultaneously at home and abroad, are allowed to make their first disclosure of the 2025 Sustainability Report before April 30, 2026 at the latest. Other listed companies are encouraged to voluntarily disclose their reports.

Next, SZSE will, in accordance with the unified deployment of CSRC, earnestly carry out regulatory services to help listed companies achieve sustainable development. Firstly, we will strengthen market training and timely issue information disclosure guidelines to provide specific guidance for listed companies to implement the Guidelines. Secondly, we will positively evaluate listed companies of high disclosure quality in information disclosure assessments, supporting the advancement of ESG rating, index development and other work, and promote the construction of a favorable investment ecosystem for sustainable development. Thirdly, based on the implementation of the Guidelines, we will explore and expand the scope of entities disclosing sustainability information to promote the high-quality development of listed companies.