HONG KONG, Nov. 15, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- On 15 November 2021, the results of the third ESG Leading Enterprise Awards 2021 were announced, which was organized by the Chinese Edition of Bloomberg Businessweek in partnership with Deloitte, one of the world's largest accounting firms, and with the support from InvestHK under the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Hong Kong Institute of Bankers, Hong Kong Securities and Investment Institute, and CFA Society Hong Kong. Fosun International has garnered the "ESG Leading Enterprise Award" in the Category I - Market capitalization over HK$20 billion and the "ESG Leading Social Initiative Award".
The Chinese Edition of Bloomberg Businessweek stated that it partnered again with Deloitte to host the third ESG Leading Enterprise Awards to recognize Hong Kong-listed companies and asset management companies with outstanding Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) performance. This year's awards aimed at encouraging enterprises to adopt ESG practices strategically to cope with the "new normal" business environment and continue fostering a sustainable business culture. A panel of professional judges evaluated submissions based on participating enterprises' ESG governance mechanisms, goals and performance, as well as their environmental and social initiatives, etc., following a rigorous judging procedure advised by Deloitte that ensures credibility and objectivity.
The "ESG Leading Enterprise Award" commends Fosun for actively promoting the sustainable development of ESG in its entire industries
This year, Fosun International was accredited with the "ESG Leading Enterprise Award" in the Category I - Market capitalization over HK$20 billion by Bloomberg Businessweek/Chinese Edition, commending the market's recognition of Fosun International in environmental, social, corporate governance (ESG), corporate sustainability, and information disclosure, etc. Recipients of the "ESG Leading Enterprise Award" in the Category I - Market capitalization over HK$20 billion include large-scale Hong Kong-listed companies such as Henderson Land Development, Sun Hung Kai Properties, New World Development, Sino Land, China Overseas Land and Investment, China Telecom, BOC Hong Kong (Holdings), etc.
As a globalized company rooted in China, Fosun takes initiatives to create business value and gives high priorities to corporate social responsibility. Together with its original aspiration of "Self-improvement, Teamwork, Performance, and Contribution to Society" and its corporate mission of "Creating Happier Lives for Families Worldwide", Fosun has always integrated the principle of sustainable development into all levels of the Group's operations.
In March 2019, Fosun International established the Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Committee under the Board of Directors. The committee consists of six board members, and an independent non-executive director to serve as the chairman of the committee.
For daily ESG operation, Fosun International has established an ESG working group to assist the ESG committee in implementing ESG initiatives and ensure the establishment of appropriate and effective ESG risk management and internal control systems. This ESG working group involves 20 key functional departments including the Office of Board Secretary, Public Affairs and Corporate Communications Centre, Capital Markets and Investor Relations Department, the Environment, Health, Safety, and Quality Supervision Department (EHSQ), and the Fosun Foundation, together with the subsidiaries to implement various ESG indicators.
In recent years, Fosun has achieved remarkable ESG performance. Its MSCI ESG rating was A and the Hang Seng Sustainability rating was A. Fosun International was selected as a constituent stock of Hang Seng ESG 50 Index (top 50 large-to-mid cap) and it has been included as a constituent stock of the Hang Seng Corporate Sustainability Benchmark Index, which includes 87 Hong Kong-listed companies with the most outstanding performance in corporate sustainability (top 20% of the Hang Seng Composite Index constituent stocks). Besides, its FTSE Russell ESG rating was upgraded significantly, which is higher than the industry average.
In October 2021, CLSA has published the first ESG deep-dived research report on Fosun International. The report has pointed out that Fosun's ESG mission is clear: actively address the growing demand for corporate sustainability. Fosun has a rigorous structure and policy to ensure business alignment with ESG goals.
The "ESG Leading Social Initiative Award" commends Fosun's contribution to the global fight against the pandemic, demonstrating its strong commitment to social responsibility
The "ESG Leading Social Initiative Award" issued by Bloomberg Businessweek/Chinese Edition recognizes Fosun for its active contribution to the global fight against the pandemic, especially through "Support the World to Fight Against the Pandemic: Fosun Global Anti-pandemic Campaign" and "Fosun/BioNTech COVID-19 mRNA vaccine" projects. It deems that Fosun, in the face of the pandemic, has leveraged on its global resources advantages to urgently deploy protective materials to assist many countries affected by the pandemic. In addition, Fosun has made full use of the Group's health resources to jointly develop a new COVID-19 mRNA vaccine with German BioNTech, making a substantial contribution to the control of the pandemic.
Since the beginning of 2020 up till now, the COVID-19 pandemic has brought huge challenges to global companies. Facing the impact of the pandemic, Fosun promptly activated the wartime mechanism and actively took up corporate social responsibilities while strengthening its organizational action. When the COVID-19 pandemic broke out at the beginning of 2020, Fosun immediately initiated a global medical supplies deployment plan. It only took Fosun four days to transport 50,000 protective suits from Germany to Wuhan and other anti-pandemic frontlines. This was the first batch of large quantities of protective supplies to be transported from overseas to China. Leveraging its strong globalization capabilities, Fosun has transported protective suits, surgical masks, ventilators, etc. from 23 countries. These strategic supplies at critical moments have provided strong support for China to overcome the pandemic. As the overseas pandemic became more serious, Fosun quickly launched the second phase of action to fight against the COVID-19 pandemic by sending more supplies to key affected countries and regions.
In addition to urgently deploying protective materials to assist countries affected by the pandemic, Fosun also partnered with German BioNTech to jointly develop the COVID-19 mRNA vaccine (COMIRNATY®, also known as BNT162b2), exploring cutting-edge technology, actively promoting the implementation of vaccine research and development and the launch of the vaccine, thereby providing a strong guarantee for defeating the pandemic. COMIRNATY®, also known as BNT162b2, has been put into use in Hong Kong SAR and Macao SAR in March this year, and arrived in the Taiwan region in September 2021, playing an active role in the pandemic prevention and control in Hong Kong SAR, Macao SAR and Taiwan region.
Fosun, which is about to enter the "30 years of establishment", will keep on upholding its original aspiration of developing its business for good, inspired by its corporate culture of "Self-improvement, Teamwork, Performance, and Contribution to Society", with a view to riding the wave of momentum and endeavoring to multiplier growth. In the future, Fosun will uphold the principles of "multiplier growth, co-entrepreneurship and commitment" to lead its governance and development. Fosun will continue to strive to shoulder more social responsibilities, focus on environmental, social and governance (ESG), constantly create value and give back to the society, helping to promote high-quality development and shared prosperity. With the global trend of promoting carbon neutrality and carbon emission reduction, the sustainable development of the earth is the common mission of all mankind. Fosun will continue to actively cooperate with its member companies to enhance ESG strategies and implementation, especially in the areas of carbon neutrality, carbon peak, biodiversity, energy conservation and consumption reduction, and actively promote the sustainable development of the group.
About Fosun
Fosun was founded in 1992. Fosun's mission is to provide high-quality products and services for families around the world in health, happiness, wealth and intelligent manufacturing segments. Fosun International Limited is a global innovation-driven consumer group that has been listed on the main board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (stock code: 00656.HK) since 2007, with total assets of RMB778.9 billion (c. US$120.6 billion) as of 30 June 2021. Fosun International ranks No.459 on the 2021 Forbes Global 2000 List.
