HONG KONG, July 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Chen Qiyu, Executive Director and Co-CEO of Fosun International Limited (HKEX stock code: 00656, "Fosun International") attended and delivered a keynote speech in the session of "The Significance of Technological Innovation for Zero-Carbon Transformation" at the ESG Global Leaders Summit recently.
Many international rating agencies recognized Fosun's ESG achievement after its 30 years of exploration and practice
Chen Qiyu shared Fosun's 30 years of exploration, practice, and phased results in the field of ESG at the summit. He pointed out that, as a globalized and diversified enterprise, Fosun faces complex and diverse ESG challenges and opportunities. Fosun is committed to establishing and endeavoring to achieve its new ESG goals. "We strive to achieve carbon emissions peak by 2028 and carbon neutrality by 2050. In order to achieve these goals, we will continue to establish a green and low-carbon management system and take measures to mitigate, adapt and resist climate change," he added.
Fosun joined the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) in 2014 and is devoted to the global commitment to sustainable development, promoting the achievement of the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through participating in related activities globally and locally, relentlessly promoting their close integration with Fosun's ESG strategies and actively engaging its member companies in the implementation of ESG strategies.
In recent years, Fosun has continued to step up its ESG system construction and devotion to ESG and has achieved some results. Fosun International is the only conglomerate in Greater China with an MSCI ESG rating of AA. It is also selected as a constituent of the MSCI CHINA ESG LEADERS 10-40 Index, and its Hang Seng Sustainability Rating is A, and is selected as a constituent of the Hang Seng Corporate Sustainability Benchmark Index (HSSUSB) and Hang Seng ESG 50 Index. On 23 June, the world's leading index company, FTSE Russell announced Fosun International's FTSE Russell ESG rating. Fosun International' rating results have improved for two consecutive years, outperforming the industry average, and has been included in the FTSE4Good Index Series for the first time. In addition, Fosun's member listed companies such as Fosun Pharma, Yuyuan Inc., and Nanjing Iron & Steel have also made corresponding achievements in ESG ratings and social responsibility.
Making Solid Progress on the Global ESG Journey amid ESG Challenges of a Diversified Enterprise
Chen Qiyu said that "Fosun is an unique enterprise. As a globalized and diversified enterprise, we may face different challenges than other companies when building our ESG system."
Chen Qiyu further elaborated in his speech that Fosun may have different understandings of ESG in different development stages and there is a process of gradually establishing awareness and improvement. Today, it has listed companies at different levels, and has financial, pharmaceutical and other companies regulated by different industries. Therefore, from the perspective of governance and supervision, when it enters an industry and a region, it can adapt and become familiar with the governance needs of the region and industry.
Fosun is constantly building its own ESG awareness at different stages of development. The external social environment drives the Group to systematically sort out and refine the ESG system, from environmental protection, corporate governance, to the improvement of the legal system, to social charity in the process of globalization.
Develop business for good, and actively give back to the society
Chen Qiyu stated that Fosun also started to undertake social responsibilities and carried out charitable and donation work relatively early. As a globalized company, Fosun takes initiatives to create business value and gives high priorities to corporate social responsibility. The Group always upholds its original aspiration of "Self-improvement, Teamwork, Performance, and Contribution to Society" and its corporate mission of "Creating happier lives for families worldwide". As a global citizen, Fosun has always done business for good and undertaken its social responsibilities.
Looking globally, Fosun has participated in the joint construction of a "malaria-free world" for more than 15 years. As the first Chinese pharmaceutical brand well recognized in Africa, Artesun® (artesunate for injection), self-developed and manufactured by Fosun Pharma, has been used to treat over 48 million severe malaria patients worldwide by the end of 2021. Fosun Pharma continues to innovate, its SPAQ-CO®Disp, which indicated for the prevention of malaria in children was pre-qualified by World Health Organization (WHO). Around 175 million children in high malaria transmission African countries have benefited from the "Seasonal Malaria Chemoprevention (SMC) Program", for which SPAQ-CO®Disp is used as the core drug. SMC with SPAQ-CO®Disp effectively reduced the morbidity of malaria in children under five years old in Africa.
Fosun's happiness business like Fosun Tourism Group, which advocates the construction of low-carbon hotels, has received a good rating from MSCI. Fosun's wealth business such as Millennium BCP in Europe has been named one of "Europe's Climate Leaders" by the Financial Times and other institutions for two consecutive years.
Fosun's member companies have done a lot of explorations in ESG due to different industries and regions. To advance and strengthen ESG work, Fosun will pay more attention to and take guidance from professional ESG entities and experts as reference.
Fosun's ESG Commitment
Chen Qiyu mentioned that Fosun noticed the global investment community is now paying increasing attention to ESG. Therefore, the Group has been working on the following aspects:
First, Fosun and its member companies, as publicly listed companies, will build a better ESG system, set higher goals for continuous devotion to ESG, and introduce more technological innovations to capture more attention from ESG-focused funds.
Second, Fosun have set ESG standards and goals in the investment and development of products and industrial projects. Fosun must take a lead in project construction and manage its investments well. "We consider ESG indicators as an important factor when making investment decisions. This ensures that Fosun's ESG philosophy is consistent from top to bottom despite being a diversified enterprise," he said.
Third, Fosun has created a top-down ESG governance structure for better performance. The Group has established and improved the ESG Board Committee, with independent director as the head of the committee. At the management level, it has set up an ESG Executive Committee. It has also set up an ESG Management Committee under the ESG Board Committee and ESG Executive Committee to implement various ESG-related work. Moreover, it has established corresponding ESG governance and management structures in each member company to promote ESG initiatives.
He also pointed out that Fosun must have a few guarantees: first is top-down awareness, Fosun must advocate ESG concepts across the organization; second is to set corresponding targets, Fosun have set mid- to long-term and short-term ESG development goals and investment goals for each core business; third is to have two means, the first means is financial guarantee, companies must have financial guarantee to incorporate new facilities and methods for ESG governance; the second means is innovation and technology, which is very important in the building of ESG.
Chen Qiyu concluded in his speech, "Fosun is committed to being innovation-driven, and establishing and endeavoring to achieve its new ESG goals. The Group strives to achieve carbon emissions peak by 2028 and carbon neutrality by 2050. Fosun must adhere to the fundamentals of its corporate culture, 'Self-improvement, Teamwork, Performance and Contribution to Society' to build business for good. Through the partnership system and the board's governance structure system, we accept the supervision and management of the corporate governance structure from all aspects of society. We hope to work with the society, regulators, and investors to continuously improve our corporate governance structure, and build Fosun into a sustainable organization in terms of technology, finance, social responsibility, governance, and the talent system," he said.
ESG Global Leaders Summit
The 2nd ESG Global Leaders Summit themed around "Promoting Global ESG Development, Building a Sustainable Future" was guided by the Department of Climate Change of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, and was co-organized by Sina Finance and CITIC Press Group.
About Fosun
Founded in 1992, Fosun is a global innovation-driven consumer group dedicated to providing high-quality products and services for families around the world in Health, Happiness, Wealth, and Intelligent Manufacturing segments. In 2007, Fosun International Limited was listed on the main board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (stock code: 00656.HK). In 2021, Fosun International's total revenue was RMB161.3 billion and total assets amounted to RMB806.4 billion. Fosun International ranks No.589 on the 2022 Forbes Global 2000 List, with a MSCI ESG rating of AA.
