Tuesday, January 07, 2025

ESG Along the Socialist Path: China's Long March to an Institutionalized ESG Reporting System; The Original Text of the New (Trial) Basic Standards 企业可持续披露准则——基本准则(试行)

 

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The challenges and actions that require guidance from the vanguard Communist Party as it leads the nation along the Socialist Path toward its destination in and as a communist society at times align with historically contingent challenges and actions faced by liberal democratic, post-colonial, and markets privileging social orders, whose paths are quite distinct from that of the Marxist-Leninist Socialist path, and those of each other. That does neither imply shared values, shared goals, or shared methods with respect  to those goals the meeting of which are important to each of these social collectives form time to time. Alignment, in this sense, reflects shared results though not shared objectives. It is that critical difference that tends t6o be lost on any number of well meaning people  outside of Marxist-Leninist systems who share a hope rather than a knowledge, that shared results can somehow be magically converted into or can be made to express shared objectives--and that from this hoped for expression shared values can be precipitated out of this magical mixing. 

There are many in the West, especially, that have made policy--and perhaps more importantly, careers--from out of this phantasmagorical theater of (mis)perception dressed up some sort of fact or theoretically based analytics. And underneath that all, in all camps, is the fundamental idea that these magical alignments can some produce movement toward a truly shared objective--that each of these paths can only, "naturally" and "inevitably" lead to that of its proponents.  This is the fundamental characteristics of these paths--their irresistible need to share the glad tidings of their respective journeys and determine the ways that those off the path can be brought to salvation.  It is in this sense that in the face of common challenges (more or less because even the challenges can be understood from distinctive cognitive vantage points) that the responses serve both to meet the challenge (an internal objective) and as a sign that both the approach, and the path within which it is perfected, represent the highest form of the glad tidings and a signpost along the only proper pathway to salvation. 

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In the first third of the 21st century nowhere has this been more evident than in the way in which the common terms--human rights and sustainability--have produced a variety of approaches each true to the normative path within which it is embedded. This is particularly the case with respect to ESG (environmental, social, and governance) reporting by enterprises (and sometimes by State organs but rarely) (on some conceptual issues around ESG HERE). What appears to be a global agreement about the challenge for which ESG is proffered as a means to solution,  and whatever appears to be the adoption of a common language and a common approach (in the form of frameworks anyway), belie the differences that are both necessary and inevitable where these solutions are crafted in solidarity with the presumptions and conceptual imperatives of the fundamental political-economic ordering of the social collective through and for which it is developed and provided. But more than that, ESG provides enough of a common set of text that it provides a hope for convergence (tilted in favor of one path or another), even when a closer reading suggests that the use of common text and shared forms around a common result do not produce shared values or objectives. Instead each is offered as a basis for suggesting the glad tidings, brought on by their success, which is meant then to provide a guide for forward movement along the ideological path for and through which it was developed.

The efforts over the last several decades of Chinese policy, which has long emphasized environmental sensitivity within a development privileged environment, provides a good example.

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China is setting its sights on becoming a global leader in corporate sustainability reporting in the next decade. On May 27, 2024, China’s Ministry of Finance (MOF) opened a public consultation on the Exposure Draft of the Chinese Sustainability Disclosure Standards for Businesses (hereinafter, the “draft standards”). According to the accompanying explanatory document, China intends to create a mandatory International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB)-aligned sustainability reporting system by 2030, with fundamental sustainability-related and climate-related disclosure standards set to be introduced by 2027. The primary goal of this framework is to guide Chinese companies toward a standardized approach to sustainability reporting, facilitating the comparison of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) reporting, and improving the information available to investors, creditors, regulators, and other stakeholders.  (China Briefing 20 June 2024 HERE)

China has made significant strides in advancing corporate sustainability and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) practices in recent years. As part of its commitment to fostering greater transparency and accountability, the Chinese Ministry of Finance (MOF), in collaboration with nine other departments, unveiled the new Corporate Sustainability Disclosure Standards—Basic Standards (hereinafter, “Basic Standards”) on December 17, 2024. These standards are designed to guide businesses in disclosing sustainability-related information, ensuring that their practices align with global expectations and regulatory frameworks.  These Basic Standards build on an Exposure Draft released by the MOF in May 2024. Businesses can voluntarily adopt these Basic Standards before the scope of implementation and implementation requirements are stipulated.  The release of the Basic Standards is part of a broader initiative to establish a unified national framework for corporate sustainability reporting in China. This marks a critical miletsone in harmonizing corporate sustainability disclosures across the country and integrating global best practices. (China Briefing 23 December 2024 HERE)

Both the draft and the Basic Standards suggest the commonality of the challenge, and the ways in which those challenges are met as a function and within the framework of the ideological path for which it was constituted. Text, method, and sometimes form may be shared--but objectives are not. The Socialist path and that of others diverge, even as each is meant to meet the challenges facing societies marching along each of them in contextually and ideologically compatible ways. China's path takes it in one direction, that of liberal democracy takes it in another. Shared result provides common ground for joint action--but it does not suggest compatibility of values, objectives or pathways for each of these social orders. There is a win-win here for leaders on all paths--the identification of common results is a significant means of joint action. Beyond that one ought to proceed with caution--especially in the political and ideological realms.

1. The Basic Standards (art. 1) are meant to serve as a manifestation of "new" or "high quality" development, a conceptual element central to the recent report of the 3rd Plenum and a critical element of Chinese Style (or Socialist) Modernization (discussed here, here). In that sense it is clear from the outset that the Basic Standards are meant to be understood and applied to fulfill the overarching policy and political objectives of New Era Socialist Modernization. This carries forward the purpose of this enterprise described by the Ministry of Finance's press release for the draft guidance, to fulfill the general objectives of the 20th CPC Congress (为贯彻落实党的二十大精神) and more specifically to "promote the sustainable development of the economy, society, and environment, steadily advance the construction of my country's sustainable disclosure standards system, and standardize the disclosure of corporate sustainable development information," [推动经济、社会和环境可持续发展,稳步推进我国可持续披露准则体系建设,规范企业可持续发展信息披露,] (Press Release)-

2. The Basic Standards are just that--overarching guidelines that are meant to provide a framework for functionally differentiated and more specific application (art. 2). At the same time these guidelines do not override either the values based mechanisms for assessing conduct or the need to comply with overarching national law /Ant-espionage, national security, data protection and the like). A necessary element of that are the conciseness between Chinese ESG and the emerging conceptions of  Social Revolution (社会革命) and Self-Revolution (自我革命).

3. The Basic Standards announce a " risks, opportunities and impacts" standard (art. 3).  The elaboraiton of that standard is important as a basic guidance for the design and elaboration of ESG reporting and monitoring systems. It is grounded in risks and opportunities (the basic balancing framework that is also a critical element in Chinese SOE operation) as a function of the enterprises' development prospects.  This standard is potentially quite different from that elaborated under other systems (discussed in the context of SOEs HERE). These are elaborated especially in Art. 20. The definitions in Art 3 ought to be read in the context of the overall principles of New Era Socialist Modernization as elaborated  from the 20th CPC Congress 3rd Plenum Reports and official elaborations (eg here, here, and here).

4. The Basic Standards seeks a results based alignment with other ESG systems especially in the description of the that the rules apply to value chains (Art. 4). But these might also have to be read in light of other regulatory frameworks (eg Law of the People's Republic of China on Promoting Private Economy (Draft for Comments) [中华人民共和国民营经济促进法 (草案征求意见稿)] Text and Source Materials). The same applied to Art. 5-7 coordination between ESG and financial reporting and the coordination of data collection/protection (also subject to national security, data protection, state secrets and other measures). 

5. Chapter II's disclosure objectives and principles (Arts. 8-11) elaborate the implementation of the basic principles in Art.'s 1-6. Again Art. 3's critical standard--" risks, opportunities and impacts" shapes the form and objectives of ESG. Particular attention might be required for the application of Chinese standards for development (and again here one speaks to Socialist or Chinese Style Development) as the overarching source of values to factors that must be balanced, and so balanced reported. This applied with particular force to the application of Arts. 8-9. The distinction between "risk and opportunity" information and "impacts" information is important (art. 9), especially with respect to the way that severity is measured and applied ot the calculus. A comparison with the orthodox view of severity and its measurement under instruments like the UN Guiding Principles for Business and Human Rights or the new EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive might prove useful. 

10. The relationship between Arts. 8-9 and Art. 10 remains unclear.  What is important to keep in mind, though, may be the impact of art. 10's requirement that reporting institutions " clearly distinguish between the important sustainable information and other information they disclose, and appropriately summarize and decompose sustainable information considering all facts and circumstances." On the one hand the aligned element is clear--not to bury important information in clutter.  Nonetheless the means by which this distinction is implemented may be guided by different ways of approaching what may be clutter and what is not. Similar issues touch on Art. 11's direction respecting the costs and difficulty of obtaining information and its relationship to institutional capacity. These are issues that are also critical to other ESG systems; their implementation here may not mimic those of other systems. 

11. Chapter III (Arts. 12-17) touch on data quality. These include objectives respecting data reliability, completeness, relevance, comparability, verifiability, clarity, and timeliness.

12. The heart of specific instruction is found in Chapter IV and its elaboration of disclosure elements (arts. 18-24). Article 18 outlines four core elements: (1) governance structure and procedures to manage sustainable risk/rewards; (2) strategy methods to manage sustainable risk/rewards; (3) risk and opportunity management; and (4) indicators and targets used to measure performance. Of these the indicators and targets are the point where there is likely to be substantial interlinking with political and policy guidance from both the State and the arty apparatus. Each of these core elements in then further elaborated in the articles that follow Art. 18.

13. Chapter 5 (arts. 25-30) consider disclosure obligations. These include guidance on disclosure periods (art. 25); comparable reporting over a number of periods (art. 26); the requirements to allow the enterprise to issue an Enterprise Compliance Statement. The relationship between this and the requirements for enterprise social credit system rules remains undisclosed (eg here) and with particular reference to sensitive information (art. 27); judgment uncertainty (art. 28); post reporting correction guidance (art. 29); and structure for compliance reporting (art. 30). 

14. Lastly, and probably most importantly, the Basic Standards remind readers that the Ministry of Finance will be given administrative authority to interpret the Basic Standard but (unstated) those interpretations will have to be aligned with the policy objectives for which the leadership and guidance of the CPC will be essential (art. 31).


This post includes the Corporate Sustainability Disclosure Standards—Basic Standards in both the original Chinese and in a crude English translation.   It is worth noting that these Basic Standards are only one part of a growing complex of sometimes overlapping regulatory measures built around ESG (discussed in -"The Chinese Path for Business and Human Rights" [白 轲 "工商企业与人权的中国道路"]; also here). The fundamental challenge will be to coordinate these.  On the other hand, these guidelines and obligations do not appear any less coordinated than those  being developed elsewhere. 

 In a later post an ideologically based analysis of the collective effect of these measures.

 

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附件
企业可持续披露准则——基本准则(试行)
第一章 总 则

第一条 为推动高质量发展,引导企业践行可持续发展
理念,规范企业可持续发展信息(以下简称可持续信息)披
露,保证可持续信息质量,制定本准则。
第二条 企业可持续披露准则包括基本准则、具体准则
和应用指南。具体准则和应用指南的制定应当遵循基本准则。
基本准则对企业可持续信息披露提出一般要求。
具体准则对企业在环境、社会和治理等方面的可持续议
题的信息披露提出具体要求。
应用指南对本准则和具体准则进行解释和细化,对有关
行业应用本准则和具体准则提供指引,以及对重点难点问题
进行操作性规定。
第三条 企业披露的可持续信息,是指企业在环境、社
会和治理等方面的可持续议题相关风险、机遇和影响(以下
简称可持续风险、机遇和影响)的信息,包括国家法律法规
要求披露的可持续信息。
可持续风险和机遇,是指企业就特定可持续议题与其整
个价值链中的利益相关方、经济、社会和环境的互动而产生
的可合理预期会影响企业发展前景(即企业短期、中期或者
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长期的现金流量、融资渠道及资本成本等)的风险和机遇。
可持续影响,是指企业与特定可持续议题相关的活动(包括
与之相关的价值链活动,下同)对经济、社会和环境产生的
实际影响或者可预见的潜在影响,包括积极影响或者消极影
响。
第四条 企业开展可持续信息披露应当考虑价值链情况。
价值链,是指企业的价值创造活动各环节构成的完整关系链
条,即与企业的业务模式及其所处外部环境相关的互动、资
源和关系,包括企业的产品或者服务从概念到交付、消费直
至生命周期结束所涉及的互动、资源、关系以及开展的全部
活动。
第五条 可持续信息披露的报告主体应当与财务报表的
报告主体保持一致。
第六条 企业应当关注可持续信息之间、可持续信息和
财务报表信息之间、可持续信息和与财务报表一同披露的其
他信息之间的关联。企业应当通过索引或者文字解释披露上
述信息之间的关联。
可持续信息之间的关联,包括各个可持续风险、机遇和
影响信息之间的关联,以及与特定可持续风险、机遇和影响
有关的各类信息之间的关联。
可持续信息与财务报表信息之间的关联,包括可持续定
量信息直接取自财务报表相关项目数值,或者取自财务报表
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相关项目数值的一部分或者合计数。企业编制可持续信息所
使用的数据和假设应当考虑所适用的企业会计准则的要求,
尽可能与其编制相关财务报表所使用的数据和假设保持一
致;若存在不一致的,应当披露重大差异的信息并说明理由。
以货币计量的可持续信息应当使用与其相关财务报表一致
的币种。
第七条 企业应当建立健全与可持续信息披露相关的数
据收集、验证、分析、利用和报告等系统,完善可持续信息
披露的内部控制,确保可持续信息披露的质量。
第二章 披露目标与原则
第八条 企业可持续信息披露的目标,是向信息使用者
提供重要的可持续风险、机遇和影响的信息,以便其作出经
济决策、资源配置或者其他决策。可持续信息披露有助于企
业贯彻新发展理念,推动经济、社会和环境可持续发展,促
进人与自然和谐共生,构建和谐社会关系。
可持续信息使用者包括投资者、债权人、政府及其有关
部门和其他利益相关方。其中,投资者、债权人为可持续信
息的基本使用者。其他利益相关方,是指其利益受到或者可
能受到企业活动影响的群体或者人员,如员工、消费者、客
户、供应商、社区以及企业的业务伙伴和社会伙伴等。
第九条 可持续信息披露应当符合重要性原则。
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企业应当结合具体适用的企业可持续披露准则的要求,
按照下列标准开展重要性评估:
(一)可持续风险和机遇信息。在合理预期下,某项可
持续风险和机遇信息的省略、错报或者模糊处理会影响可持
续信息基本使用者据此作出决策的,该信息具有重要性。
(二)可持续影响信息。对于实际的消极影响,应当以
消极影响的严重程度为评估标准;对于可预见的潜在的消极
影响,应当以消极影响的严重程度和发生的可能性为评估标
准。对于消极影响严重程度的评估,应当以消极影响的规模、
范围、不可补救性为评估标准。对于实际的积极影响,应当
以积极影响的规模和范围为评估标准;对于可预见的潜在的
积极影响,应当以积极影响的规模、范围以及发生的可能性
为评估标准。
第十条 为确保重要信息不被模糊处理,企业应当明确
区分其披露的重要可持续信息及其他信息,并考虑所有事实
和情况,对可持续信息进行适当汇总和分解。企业不得因提
供额外非重要信息而模糊处理重要信息,或者通过汇总不具
有共同特征的重要信息而降低信息的可理解性。企业可以对
可持续信息按不同维度进行汇总和分解。
第十一条 企业在识别可持续风险、机遇和影响,确定
价值链范围,编制可持续风险或者机遇预期财务影响的信息,
以及编制可持续影响信息时,应当使用报告日合理且有依据
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的信息(该信息无须付出过度成本或者努力即可获得)。其
中,企业在编制可持续风险或者机遇预期财务影响的信息时,
应当采用与其技能、能力和资源相称的方法。
第三章 信息质量要求
第十二条 企业披露的可持续信息应当具有可靠性,能
够如实反映重要的可持续风险、机遇和影响,保证可持续信
息完整、中立和准确。
信息完整,要求企业披露有助于信息使用者了解其可持
续风险、机遇和影响所必需的信息,避免重要信息被省略、
漏报。信息中立,要求企业在可持续信息披露时不带偏见,
不低估或者夸大信息。信息准确,要求企业采取充分的流程
和内部控制以避免重要信息被错报或者模糊处理,确保事实
信息不存在重要错误、描述精确,估计和预测被清晰识别。
第十三条 企业披露的可持续信息应当具有相关性,与
信息使用者的决策相关,有助于信息使用者作出评价或者预
测。
第十四条 企业披露的可持续信息应当具有可比性,可
以与企业不同时期提供的信息进行比较,以及与其他企业特
别是同一行业企业或者从事相似经营活动、具有相似业务模
式的企业提供的信息进行比较。
第十五条 企业披露的可持续信息应当具有可验证性,
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能够通过该信息本身或者生成该信息的输入值加以证实。鼓
励企业提供独立的可持续发展报告鉴证声明。
第十六条 企业披露的可持续信息应当具有可理解性,
内容清晰明了,便于信息使用者理解和使用。
第十七条 企业披露的可持续信息应当具有及时性,能
够及时满足信息使用者的信息需求。
第四章 披露要素
第十八条 除非其他具体准则另行要求,为满足可持续
信息基本使用者的信息需求,企业披露的可持续信息应当包
括下列四个核心要素:
(一)治理,即企业管理和监督可持续风险和机遇的治
理架构、控制措施和程序。
(二)战略,即企业管理可持续风险和机遇的规划、策
略和方法。
(三)风险和机遇管理,即企业用于识别、评估、排序
和监控可持续风险和机遇的流程。
(四)指标和目标,即企业衡量可持续风险和机遇管理
绩效的指标,以及企业已设定的目标和国家法律法规、战略
规划要求企业实现的目标及其进展。
第十九条 在治理方面,可持续信息披露的目标,是使
可持续信息基本使用者了解企业管理和监督可持续风险和
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机遇所采用的治理架构、控制措施和程序。为了实现这一目
标,企业应当披露下列信息:
(一)负责监督可持续风险和机遇的治理机构(包括董
事会及其下设委员会或者其他类似机构)或者人员的信息,
包括:
1.该机构或者人员的职权范围、授权、职责描述和其他
相关政策如何体现其监督责任;
2.该机构或者人员是否具备在执行、监督可持续风险和
机遇的战略、制度等方面的专业技能和胜任能力,以监督企
业为管理可持续风险和机遇而制定的战略;
3.该机构或者人员获悉可持续风险和机遇的方式和频
率;
4.该机构或者人员在监督企业的战略、重大交易决策、
风险管理流程以及相关政策时,如何考虑可持续风险和机遇;
5.该机构或者人员如何监督可持续风险和机遇的目标
设定,并监控这些目标的实现进展,包括是否以及如何将相
关绩效指标纳入薪酬政策。
(二)管理层在管理和监督可持续风险和机遇所采用的
治理架构、控制措施和程序中的作用的信息,包括:
1.特定管理层岗位或者部门是否被赋予管理和监督可
持续风险和机遇的职责,以及如何对该岗位或者部门进行监
督;
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2.管理层是否采用控制措施和程序对可持续风险和机
遇的监督予以支持,以及如何将这些控制措施和程序与企业
的其他内部职能相整合。
企业针对可持续风险和机遇的管理和监督已经建立整
体性治理架构和内部制度的,可以对前款规定的内容进行整
合披露,无须披露单个议题的相关信息。
第二十条 在战略方面,可持续信息披露的目标,是使
可持续信息基本使用者了解企业管理可持续风险和机遇所
制定的战略和可能结果。为了实现这一目标,企业应当披露
下列信息:
(一)可持续风险和机遇,包括:
1.可合理预期会影响企业发展前景的可持续风险和机
遇;
2.这些风险和机遇对企业的业务模式和价值链的当期
和预期影响,并说明企业的业务模式和价值链中可持续风险
和机遇集中的领域,包括特定活动、业务关系、地理区域、
设施和资产类型等;
3.这些风险和机遇可合理预期影响企业发展前景的时
间范围(包括短期、中期、长期),以及如何与企业用于战
略决策的时间范围相关联。
短期,一般是指可持续信息报告期间结束后 1 年以内(含
1 年);中期,一般是指可持续信息报告期间结束后 1 年至 5
9
年(含 5 年);长期,一般是指可持续信息报告期间结束后 5
年以上。企业因行业特殊性、业务周期、投资期限等原因,
导致上述对短期、中期和长期的定义不符合其实际情况从而
无法提供有用信息的,应当采用更适合的短期、中期和长期
定义,并披露有关如何定义短期、中期和长期及相关理由的
信息。
(二)可持续风险和机遇如何影响企业的战略和决策,
包括:
1.企业的战略和决策当期如何应对或者计划如何应对
可持续风险和机遇;
2.企业以前报告期间披露的管理计划的进展,包括定量
和定性信息;
3.企业如何在战略和决策中考虑可持续风险和机遇之
间的权衡。
(三)可持续风险和机遇的当期和预期财务影响,包括
下列定量和定性信息:
1.可持续风险和机遇对企业报告期间的财务状况、经营
成果和现金流量的影响;
2.识别出的可能对下一年度报告期间相关财务报表的
资产和负债账面价值存在重大调整风险的可持续风险和机
遇;
3.基于管理可持续风险和机遇的战略,企业预计其财务
10
状况、经营成果和现金流量在短期、中期和长期将如何变化。
(四)企业的战略和业务模式对可持续风险的韧性(即
企业的战略和业务模式对可持续风险有关的不确定性作出
调整的能力),包括评估韧性所采用的情景分析等方法和关
键假设、使用的输入值或者参数、时间范围等。
企业按照本条规定提供定量信息时,可以披露单个数值
或者区间数值。
企业针对可持续风险和机遇的管理和监督已经建立整
体性战略的,可以对前款规定的内容进行整合披露,无须披
露单个议题的相关信息。
第二十一条 企业在编制可持续风险或者机遇当期和预
期财务影响的信息时,如果财务影响无法单独识别,或者估
计这些财务影响所涉及的计量不确定性很可能导致产生的
定量信息没有价值,则企业无须提供有关当期和预期财务影
响的定量信息。如果企业不具备提供有关可持续风险或者机
遇定量信息的技能、能力或者资源,则企业无须提供这些预
期财务影响的定量信息。
如果企业根据前述条件确定其无须提供有关当期或者
预期财务影响的定量信息,则应当披露下列信息:
1.未提供定量信息的原因;
2.有关财务影响的定性信息,包括财务报表中可能受到
或者已经受到该可持续风险或者机遇影响的行项目、合计项
11
目和总计项目;
3.关于该可持续风险或者机遇、其他可持续风险或者机
遇和其他因素的综合财务影响的定量信息(除非该定量信息
没有价值)。
第二十二条 在风险和机遇管理方面,可持续信息披露
的目标,是使可持续信息基本使用者了解企业识别、评估、
排序和监控可持续风险和机遇的流程(包括这些流程是否以
及如何融入企业的整体风险管理流程),以及评估企业的整
体风险状况及其整体风险管理流程。为了实现这一目标,企
业应当披露下列信息:
(一)用于识别、评估、排序和监控可持续风险的流程
和相关政策,包括:
1.采用的方法和关键假设;
2.使用的输入值和参数及其来源;
3.如何评估可持续风险影响的性质、可能性和规模;
4.是否以及如何考虑可持续风险相较于其他类型风险
的优先级;
5.如何监控可持续风险;
6.与上一报告期间相比,是否以及如何改变所使用的流
程。
(二)用于识别、评估、排序和监控可持续机遇的流程。
(三)用于识别、评估、排序和监控可持续风险和机遇
12
的流程在多大程度上以及如何融入企业的整体风险管理流
程。
企业针对可持续风险和机遇进行统一管理的,可以对前
款规定的内容进行整合披露,无须披露单个议题的相关信息。
第二十三条 在指标和目标方面,可持续信息披露的目
标,是使可持续信息基本使用者了解企业在可持续风险和机
遇方面的绩效,包括企业设定的目标的进展和国家法律法规、
战略规划要求企业实现的目标的进展。为了实现这一目标,
企业应当披露下列信息:
(一)适用的具体准则和应用指南要求披露的指标。
(二)企业用于计量和监控其可持续风险和机遇的指标,
以及衡量可持续风险和机遇管理绩效的指标,应当包括与特
定业务模式、活动或者其他表明企业具有某一行业的共同特
征相关的指标。如果企业设定了一项指标,则应当说明:
1.如何定义指标;
2.指标是绝对值、相对值或者是定性指标;
3.指标是否以及如何经独立第三方验证;
4.计算指标的方法、关键假设、方法的局限性以及使用
的输入值或者参数;
5.指标的修订及原因(如适用)。
(三)企业设定的目标的进展和国家法律法规、战略规
划要求企业实现的目标的进展,并说明:
13
1.用于设定目标和监控目标进展的指标;
2.企业设定的或者被要求实现的特定定量或者定性目
标;
3.目标适用的时间范围;
4.计量进展的基准期间;
5.阶段性目标和中期目标(如适用);
6.目标实现情况的绩效及其未来趋势或者变化分析;
7.目标的修订及原因(如适用)。
第二十四条 为满足信息使用者的信息需求,除按照本
准则相关规定外,企业还应当按照具体准则和应用指南的规
定,披露本准则第十八条至第二十三条未涵盖的重要的可持
续影响信息。
企业披露的可持续影响信息不应掩盖或者模糊其披露
的可持续风险和机遇信息,两者应当可区分。
第五章 其他披露要求
第二十五条 企业可持续信息披露的报告期间应当与其
财务报表的报告期间保持一致。企业一般应当按公历年度披
露可持续信息。
在年度报告期末之后、可持续信息批准报出日之前,企
业收到报告期末已经存在情况的信息,应当根据新的信息更
新与该情况有关的披露;如果出现有关交易、事项和其他情
14
况的信息,且可合理预期不披露这些信息将会影响信息使用
者据此作出的决策,则企业应当披露这些信息。
第二十六条 除非具体准则或者应用指南另行要求,企
业应当就报告期间披露的所有数值披露上一报告期间的可
比数值,首次披露时无须披露上一报告期间的可比数值。如
果定性的信息有助于信息使用者了解报告期间的可持续信
息,企业还应当披露与此类信息有关的可比信息。
第二十七条 如果企业遵循企业可持续披露准则中的所
有要求披露可持续信息,即可发表明确且无保留的合规声明。
本准则豁免企业披露国家秘密、法律法规禁止披露的信
息、知识产权或者创新成果信息以及具有商业敏感性的可持
续机遇信息。企业采用这些豁免条款不妨碍其发表合规声明,
但应当充分说明原因。
同时符合下列条件的可持续机遇信息具有商业敏感性:
(一)该可持续机遇信息尚无法公开获取。
(二)可合理预期披露该信息将严重损害企业追求该机
遇所能实现的经济利益。
(三)企业确定其无法以既达到披露要求目标又不严重
损害其追求该机遇所能实现的经济利益的方式披露该信息。
第二十八条 企业应当披露编制可持续信息过程中作出
的对所披露信息具有最重大影响的判断。
企业应当披露所报告数值的最重大的不确定性。企业应
15
当识别其披露的具有高度计量不确定性的数值,并披露这些
数值计量不确定性的来源以及计量数值时运用的假设、近似
值和判断。
第二十九条 除非不切实可行,企业应当通过重述前期
可比数值的方式更正重要的前期差错。
不切实可行,是指如果企业在尽所有合理努力后仍然无
法执行某项要求,则企业执行该项要求是不切实可行的。前
期差错,是指企业在一个或者多个以前报告期间可持续信息
披露中的省略和错报。前期差错源于企业未能使用或者误用
前期可持续信息批准报出时可获取的可靠信息,以及在编制
这些信息时可合理预期已获得并加以考虑的可靠信息。
如果企业发现重要的前期差错,应当披露前期差错的性
质,以及在切实可行的范围内就该前期披露内容进行的更正。
如果重要的前期差错更正不切实可行,企业应当披露导致该
状况出现的情况、该差错可能产生的影响。
当确定某项差错对所有前期披露的影响不切实可行时,
企业应当从可行的最早日期开始更正该差错并重述可比信
息。
第三十条 企业应当按照企业可持续披露准则的要求编
制可持续发展报告。可持续发展报告应当采用清晰的结构和
语言,与财务报表同时对外披露,监管部门另有要求的除外。
企业应当在其官方网站或者以其他方式公布可持续发展报
16
告。
本准则所要求的信息可以通过交叉索引的方式从企业
发布的其他报告(如相关财务报表)中获取。如果本准则要
求的信息是通过交叉索引方式纳入的,则企业应当披露该信
息所来源的报告。
第六章 附 则
第三十一条 本准则由财政部会同相关部门负责解释。

 

1

Appendix
Corporate Sustainable Disclosure Standards - Basic Standards (Trial)


Chapter I General Provisions

Article 1 These standards are formulated to promote high-quality development, guide enterprises to practice the concept of sustainable development, standardize the disclosure of corporate sustainable development information (hereinafter referred to as sustainable information), and ensure the quality of sustainable information.


Article 2 The corporate sustainable disclosure standards include basic standards, specific standards and application guidelines. The formulation of specific standards and application guidelines shall follow the basic standards.
The basic standards set forth general requirements for corporate sustainable information disclosure.
The specific standards set forth specific requirements for corporate information disclosure on sustainable issues in the environment, society and governance.
The application guidelines explain and refine these standards and specific standards, provide guidance for the application of these standards and specific standards in relevant industries, and make operational provisions for key and difficult issues.


Article 3 The sustainable information disclosed by an enterprise refers to the information on risks, opportunities and impacts (hereinafter referred to as sustainable risks, opportunities and impacts) related to sustainable issues in the environment, society and governance of the enterprise, including sustainable information required to be disclosed by national laws and regulations.
Sustainable risks and opportunities refer to the risks and opportunities that can be reasonably expected to affect the company's development prospects (i.e., the company's short-term, medium-term or long-term cash flow, financing channels and capital costs, etc.) arising from the interaction between the company and its stakeholders, economy, society and environment in the entire value chain on specific sustainable issues. Sustainable impact refers to the actual impact or foreseeable potential impact of the company's activities related to specific sustainable issues (including related value chain activities, hereinafter the same) on the economy, society and environment, including positive impact or negative impact. 

Article 4 Enterprises shall consider the value chain when conducting sustainable information disclosure. The value chain refers to the complete relationship chain composed of all links of the company's value creation activities, that is, the interactions, resources and relationships related to the company's business model and the external environment in which it is located, including the interactions, resources, relationships and all activities involved in the company's products or services from concept to delivery, consumption to the end of the life cycle. 

Article 5 The reporting subject of sustainable information disclosure shall be consistent with the reporting subject of the financial statements. 

Article 6 Enterprises shall pay attention to the relationship between sustainable information, between sustainable information and financial statement information, and between sustainable information and other information disclosed together with financial statements. Enterprises shall disclose the relationship between the above information through indexes or textual explanations. The relationship between sustainable information includes the relationship between various sustainable risks, opportunities and impact information, as well as the relationship between various types of information related to specific sustainable risks, opportunities and impacts. The relationship between sustainable information and financial statement information includes the relationship between sustainable quantitative information directly taken from the values ​​of relevant items in the financial statements, or taken from part or the total of the values ​​of relevant items in the financial statements. The data and assumptions used by enterprises to prepare sustainable information shall take into account the requirements of the applicable enterprise accounting standards and try to keep them consistent with the data and assumptions used to prepare the relevant financial statements; if there are inconsistencies, information on significant differences shall be disclosed and reasons shall be explained. Sustainable information measured in monetary terms shall use the currency consistent with its relevant financial statements. 

Article 7 Enterprises shall establish and improve systems for data collection, verification, analysis, utilization and reporting related to the disclosure of sustainable information, improve internal control of sustainable information disclosure, and ensure the quality of sustainable information disclosure. 

Chapter II Disclosure Objectives and Principles

Article 8 The goal of corporate sustainable information disclosure is to provide information users with important sustainable risks, opportunities and impacts so that they can make economic decisions, resource allocation or other decisions. Sustainable information disclosure helps enterprises implement the new development concept, promote economic, social and environmental sustainable development, promote the harmonious coexistence of man and nature, and build harmonious social relations.
Sustainable information users include investors, creditors, governments and their relevant departments and other stakeholders. Among them, investors and creditors are the basic users of sustainable information. Other stakeholders refer to groups or persons whose interests are or may be affected by corporate activities, such as employees, consumers, customers, suppliers, communities, and business partners and social partners of enterprises.

Article 9 Sustainable information disclosure shall comply with the principle of materiality.
4
Enterprises shall conduct materiality assessments in accordance with the following standards in combination with the requirements of the specific applicable corporate sustainable disclosure guidelines:
(i) Sustainable risk and opportunity information. If the omission, misstatement or ambiguity of a sustainable risk and opportunity information will affect the decision-making of the basic users of sustainable information under reasonable expectations, the information is material.
(II) Sustainable impact information. For actual negative impacts, the severity of the negative impact shall be used as the evaluation standard; for foreseeable potential negative impacts, the severity and probability of the negative impact shall be used as the evaluation standard. For the evaluation of the severity of negative impacts, the scale, scope and irremediability of the negative impact shall be used as the evaluation standard. For actual positive impacts, the scale and scope of the positive impact shall be used as the evaluation standard; for foreseeable potential positive impacts, the scale, scope and probability of the positive impact shall be used as the evaluation standard.
 

Article 10 To ensure that important information is not obfuscated, enterprises shall clearly distinguish between the important sustainable information and other information they disclose, and appropriately summarize and decompose sustainable information considering all facts and circumstances. Enterprises shall not obfuscate important information by providing additional non-important information, or reduce the comprehensibility of information by summarizing important information that does not have common characteristics. Enterprises can summarize and decompose sustainable information according to different dimensions.
 

Article 11 When identifying sustainable risks, opportunities and impacts, determining the scope of the value chain, compiling information on the expected financial impact of sustainable risks or opportunities, and compiling sustainable impact information, enterprises shall use reasonable and well-founded information on the reporting date (which can be obtained without excessive cost or effort). Among them, when compiling information on the expected financial impact of sustainable risks or opportunities, enterprises shall adopt methods commensurate with their skills, capabilities and resources.
 

Chapter III Information Quality Requirements

 

Article 12 The sustainable information disclosed by enterprises shall be reliable, able to truthfully reflect important sustainable risks, opportunities and impacts, and ensure that sustainable information is complete, neutral and accurate.
Information completeness requires enterprises to disclose information necessary to help information users understand their sustainable risks, opportunities and impacts, and avoid the omission or underreporting of important information. Information neutrality requires enterprises to be unbiased when disclosing sustainable information, and not to underestimate or exaggerate information. Accurate information requires enterprises to adopt adequate processes and internal controls to avoid misreporting or obfuscation of important information, ensure that factual information does not contain important errors, is accurately described, and estimates and forecasts are clearly identified.
 

Article 13 The sustainable information disclosed by enterprises shall be relevant, relevant to the decision-making of information users, and help information users make evaluations or predictions.
 

Article 14 The sustainable information disclosed by enterprises shall be comparable and can be compared with the information provided by the enterprise at different times, as well as with the information provided by other enterprises, especially enterprises in the same industry or enterprises engaged in similar business activities and with similar business models.
 

Article 15 The sustainable information disclosed by enterprises shall be verifiable and can be verified by the information itself or the input values ​​that generate the information. Enterprises are encouraged to provide independent sustainable development report certification statements.
 

Article 16 The sustainable information disclosed by enterprises shall be understandable, clear and easy for information users to understand and use.
 

Article 17 The sustainable information disclosed by enterprises shall be timely and able to meet the information needs of information users in a timely manner.
 

Chapter 4 Disclosure Elements

 

Article 18 Unless otherwise required by other specific standards, in order to meet the information needs of basic users of sustainable information, the sustainable information disclosed by the enterprise shall include the following four core elements:

(i) Governance, i.e. the governance structure, control measures and procedures for the enterprise to manage and monitor sustainable risks and opportunities.
(ii) Strategy, i.e. the planning, strategy and methods for the enterprise to manage sustainable risks and opportunities.
(iii) Risk and opportunity management, i.e. the process used by the enterprise to identify, evaluate, prioritize and monitor sustainable risks and opportunities.
(iv) Indicators and targets, i.e. the indicators used by the enterprise to measure the performance of sustainable risk and opportunity management, as well as the targets set by the enterprise and the targets and progress required by national laws, regulations and strategic planning.

Article 19 In terms of governance, the goal of sustainable information disclosure is to enable basic users of sustainable information to understand the governance structure, control measures and procedures adopted by the enterprise to manage and monitor sustainable risks and opportunities. To achieve this goal, the company shall disclose the following information:
(i) Information on the governance body (including the board of directors and its committees or other similar bodies) or personnel responsible for overseeing sustainable risks and opportunities, including:
1. The scope of authority, authorization, job description and other relevant policies of the body or personnel reflect their supervisory responsibilities;
2. Whether the body or personnel has the professional skills and competence in implementing and overseeing the strategies and systems of sustainable risks and opportunities to supervise the strategies formulated by the company to manage sustainable risks and opportunities;
3. The way and frequency of the body or personnel being informed of sustainable risks and opportunities;
4. How the body or personnel considers sustainable risks and opportunities when overseeing the company's strategy, major transaction decisions, risk management processes and related policies;
5. How the body or personnel oversees the setting of sustainable risk and opportunity goals and monitors the progress of achieving these goals, including whether and how to incorporate relevant performance indicators into the remuneration policy. 

(ii) Information on the role of management in the governance structure, control measures and procedures used to manage and monitor sustainable risks and opportunities, including:

1. Whether a specific management position or department is assigned the responsibility for managing and monitoring sustainable risks and opportunities, and how to monitor such position or department;
8
2. Whether management adopts control measures and procedures to support the monitoring of sustainable risks and opportunities, and how to integrate these control measures and procedures with other internal functions of the enterprise.
If an enterprise has established an overall governance structure and internal system for the management and supervision of sustainable risks and opportunities, it may disclose the contents specified in the preceding paragraph in an integrated manner without disclosing relevant information on individual issues.

 

Article 20 In terms of strategy, the goal of sustainable information disclosure is to enable basic users of sustainable information to understand the strategies and possible results formulated by the enterprise in managing sustainable risks and opportunities. To achieve this goal, enterprises should disclose the following information: 

(i) Sustainable risks and opportunities, including: 1. Sustainable risks and opportunities that can reasonably be expected to affect the development prospects of the enterprise; 2. The current and expected impact of these risks and opportunities on the business model and value chain of the enterprise, and explain the areas where sustainable risks and opportunities are concentrated in the business model and value chain of the enterprise, including specific activities, business relationships, geographical areas, facilities and asset types; 3. The time frame (including short-term, medium-term and long-term) over which these risks and opportunities can reasonably be expected to affect the development prospects of the enterprise, and how they are related to the time frame used by the enterprise for strategic decision-making. Short-term generally refers to within 1 year (including 1 year) after the end of the sustainable information reporting period; medium-term generally refers to 1 year to 59 years (including 5 years) after the end of the sustainable information reporting period; long-term generally refers to more than 5 years after the end of the sustainable information reporting period. If the above definitions of short-term, medium-term and long-term do not conform to the actual situation and cannot provide useful information due to the specificity of the industry, business cycle, investment period, etc., the enterprise shall adopt more appropriate definitions of short-term, medium-term and long-term, and disclose information on how to define short-term, medium-term and long-term and related reasons.
(II) How sustainable risks and opportunities affect the strategy and decision-making of the enterprise, including:
1. How the enterprise's strategy and decision-making currently responds or plans to respond to sustainable risks and opportunities;
2. The progress of the management plan disclosed by the enterprise in previous reporting periods, including quantitative
and qualitative information;
3. How the enterprise considers the trade-offs between sustainable risks and opportunities in its strategy and decision-making. (iii) The current and expected financial impact of sustainable risks and opportunities, including the following quantitative and qualitative information: 1. The impact of sustainable risks and opportunities on the financial position, operating results and cash flows of the enterprise during the reporting period; 2. Identified sustainable risks and opportunities that may have a significant risk of adjustment to the book value of assets and liabilities in the relevant financial statements during the next annual reporting period; 3. Based on the strategy for managing sustainable risks and opportunities, how the enterprise expects its financial position, operating results and cash flows to change in the short, medium and long term. (iv) The resilience of the enterprise's strategy and business model to sustainable risks (i.e., the ability of the enterprise's strategy and business model to adjust to the uncertainties related to sustainable risks), including the scenario analysis and other methods used to assess resilience, the key assumptions, the input values ​​or parameters used, the time frame, etc. When providing quantitative information in accordance with the provisions of this article, the enterprise may disclose a single value or an interval value. If the enterprise has established an overall strategy for the management and supervision of sustainable risks and opportunities, it may disclose the contents specified in the preceding paragraph in an integrated manner without disclosing relevant information on individual issues. 

Article 21 When an enterprise prepares information on the current and expected financial impacts of sustainable risks or opportunities, if the financial impacts cannot be identified separately or the measurement uncertainty involved in estimating these financial impacts is likely to result in the resulting quantitative information being worthless, the enterprise is not required to provide quantitative information on the current and expected financial impacts. If the enterprise does not have the skills, capabilities or resources to provide quantitative information on sustainable risks or opportunities, the enterprise is not required to provide quantitative information on these expected financial impacts.
If the enterprise determines that it does not need to provide quantitative information on current or expected financial impacts based on the above conditions, it shall disclose the following information:

1. The reason for not providing quantitative information;
2. Qualitative information on financial impacts, including line items, total items and total items in the financial statements that may be or have been affected by the sustainable risk or opportunity;
3. Quantitative information on the combined financial impact of the sustainable risk or opportunity, other sustainable risks or opportunities and other factors (unless the quantitative information is worthless).

 

Article 22 In terms of risk and opportunity management, the goal of sustainable information disclosure is to enable basic users of sustainable information to understand the company's processes for identifying, evaluating, prioritizing and monitoring sustainable risks and opportunities (including whether and how these processes are integrated into the company's overall risk management process), as well as to assess the company's overall risk status and its overall risk management process.

 1. To achieve the above objectives, the enterprise shall disclose the following information:

(i) The processes and related policies used to identify, evaluate, rank and monitor sustainable risks, including:
1. The methods and key assumptions used;
2. The input values ​​and parameters used and their sources;
3. How to evaluate the nature, likelihood and scale of the impact of sustainable risks;
4. Whether and how to consider the priority of sustainable risks compared with other types of risks;
5. How to monitor sustainable risks;
6. Whether and how to change the processes used compared with the previous reporting period.

(ii) The processes used to identify, evaluate, rank and monitor sustainable opportunities.
(iii) The extent to which and how the processes used to identify, evaluate, rank and monitor sustainable risks and opportunities are integrated into the overall risk management process of the enterprise.

If the enterprise conducts unified management of sustainable risks and opportunities, it may make an integrated disclosure of the contents specified in the preceding paragraph without disclosing relevant information on individual issues.
 

Article 23 In terms of indicators and targets, the goal of sustainable information disclosure is to enable basic users of sustainable information to understand the performance of the enterprise in terms of sustainable risks and opportunities, including the progress of the targets set by the enterprise and the progress of the targets required to be achieved by the enterprise by national laws, regulations and strategic planning. In order to achieve this goal, the enterprise shall disclose the following information: (i) Indicators required to be disclosed by applicable specific standards and application guidelines. (ii) Indicators used by the enterprise to measure and monitor its sustainable risks and opportunities, as well as indicators for measuring the performance of sustainable risk and opportunity management, shall include indicators related to specific business models, activities or other common characteristics that indicate that the enterprise has a certain industry. If the enterprise sets an indicator, it shall explain: 1. How to define the indicator; 2. Whether the indicator is an absolute value, relative value or qualitative indicator; 3. Whether and how the indicator has been verified by an independent third party; 4. The method of calculating the indicator, key assumptions, limitations of the method and the input values ​​or parameters used; 5. Revision of the indicator and the reason (if applicable). (III) The progress of the goals set by the enterprise and the progress of the goals required to be achieved by the enterprise by national laws, regulations and strategic planning, and explain:
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1. Indicators used to set goals and monitor the progress of goals;
2. Specific quantitative or qualitative goals set by the enterprise or required to be achieved;
3. The time frame for the application of the goals;
4. The benchmark period for measuring progress;
5. Interim goals and mid-term goals (if applicable);
6. Performance of goal achievement and analysis of future trends or changes;
7. Revision of goals and reasons (if applicable).
 

Article 24 In order to meet the information needs of information users, in addition to the relevant provisions of this Standard, the enterprise shall disclose important sustainable impact information not covered by Articles 18 to 23 of this Standard in accordance with the provisions of specific standards and application guidelines.
The sustainable impact information disclosed by the enterprise shall not cover or obscure the sustainable risk and opportunity information disclosed by it, and the two shall be distinguishable.
 

Chapter V Other Disclosure Requirements

 

Article 25 The reporting period for the disclosure of sustainable information by an enterprise shall be consistent with the reporting period of its financial statements. Enterprises shall generally disclose sustainable information on a calendar year basis.
After the end of the annual reporting period and before the approval date of sustainable information, if the enterprise receives information about a situation that already existed at the end of the reporting period, it shall update the disclosure related to the situation based on the new information; if information about transactions, events and other situations appears, and it can be reasonably expected that non-disclosure of this information will affect the decisions made by information users based on it, the enterprise shall disclose this information.
 

Article 26 Unless otherwise required by specific standards or application guidelines, the enterprise shall disclose the comparable values ​​of the previous reporting period for all values ​​disclosed during the reporting period, and it is not necessary to disclose the comparable values ​​of the previous reporting period when disclosing for the first time. If qualitative information helps information users understand sustainable information during the reporting period, the enterprise shall also disclose comparable information related to such information.
 

Article 27 If the enterprise discloses sustainable information in accordance with all requirements of the Enterprise Sustainable Disclosure Standard, it can make a clear and unqualified compliance statement.
This standard exempts enterprises from disclosing state secrets, information prohibited from disclosure by laws and regulations, intellectual property or innovation information, and sustainable opportunities information with commercial sensitivity. The use of these exemptions by enterprises does not prevent them from making compliance statements, but they should fully explain the reasons.
Sustainable opportunity information that meets all of the following conditions is commercially sensitive:

(i) The sustainable opportunity information is not yet publicly available.
(ii) It can be reasonably expected that the disclosure of the information will seriously damage the economic benefits that the enterprise can achieve by pursuing the opportunity.
(iii) The enterprise determines that it cannot disclose the information in a way that achieves the disclosure requirement without seriously damaging the economic benefits that it can achieve by pursuing the opportunity.


Article 28 An enterprise shall disclose the judgments made in the process of preparing sustainable information that have the most significant impact on the disclosed information.
An enterprise shall disclose the most significant uncertainty in the reported values. An enterprise shall
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properly identify the values ​​it discloses that have a high degree of measurement uncertainty and disclose the sources of measurement uncertainty of these values ​​and the assumptions, approximations and judgments used in measuring the values.
 

Article 29 Unless it is impracticable, an enterprise shall correct significant prior period errors by restating prior period comparable values.
Impracticability means that if an enterprise is still unable to implement a requirement after making all reasonable efforts, it is not practicable for the enterprise to implement the requirement. Prior period errors refer to omissions and misstatements in the disclosure of sustainable information in one or more previous reporting periods. Prior period errors arise from the company's failure to use or misuse of reliable information available at the time of approval of the previous sustainable information, as well as reliable information that could reasonably be expected to have been obtained and considered when preparing the information. If an enterprise discovers a significant prior period error, it shall disclose the nature of the prior period error and the correction made to the prior period disclosure to the extent practicable. If it is not practicable to correct a significant prior period error, the enterprise shall disclose the circumstances that led to the situation and the possible impact of the error. When it is determined that the impact of an error on all prior period disclosures is not practicable, the enterprise shall correct the error and restate the comparable information from the earliest practicable date. 

Article 30 Enterprises shall prepare sustainable development reports in accordance with the requirements of the corporate sustainable disclosure standards. Sustainable development reports shall adopt a clear structure and language and be disclosed to the public at the same time as financial statements, unless otherwise required by the regulatory authorities. Enterprises shall publish sustainable development reports on their official websites or in other ways. The information required by this Standard can be obtained from other reports (such as relevant financial statements) issued by the enterprise through cross-referencing. If the information required by this Standard is included through cross-referencing, the enterprise shall disclose the report from which the information is obtained.
 

Chapter VI Supplementary Provisions

 

Article 31 The Ministry of Finance shall be responsible for interpreting this Standard together with relevant departments.



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