Listed companies make CSR disclosure progress

Listed companies from China have made significant advances in corporate social responsibility disclosures, and many of them have moved to high-quality reports, said a new report released by the China Association for Public Companies.

Releasing social responsibility information is now an important focus area for most of the listed companies, said the report, which tracked such data from corporates for three consecutive years.

Most of the public companies conduct social responsibility activities through a gradually diversified approach, said the report jointly released by the China Association for Public Companies and Securities Times last month.

The report found that there has been steady growth in the number of public companies releasing social responsibility information.

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In 2013, about 674 companies listed on the A-share market in China released 686 reports, a 4.26 percent growth from the previous year.

"The social responsibility of listed companies carries extensive significance, which include the healthy developments of listed companies, the openness and fairness of the capital market and responsibility to investors," said Yao Feng, vice-president of the China Association for Public Companies and Securities, at the recent Alashan ecological civilization dialogue in Inner Mongolia.

"Social responsibility needs more implementation by listed companies, as well as joint efforts from the government and society," Yao said.

Meanwhile, 21 listed companies were rated A for their information disclosure standards this year, compared with just two last year. About 222 listed companies were rated B, accounting for 33.23 percent of the total, far beyond the 36 companies that were rated B in 2013, according to the report.

Zhuang Xinyi, vice-president of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, said: "The China Securities Regulatory Commission has urged listed companies to diligently fulfill their social responsibility requirements.

"We hope that listed companies can integrate social responsibility into their development strategies, and optimize their reports with help of other sectors," Zhuang said.

"It's important to strengthen the social responsibility fulfillment mechanism of capital market, and provide resources to firms that care about social environment for their financing and mergers," he said.

In addition to financial companies, firms that are listed both at home and abroad, and other companies that are required to disclose their social responsibility information, 274 companies voluntarily released the reports, up 11 percent from last year.

Meanwhile, a higher number of companies that are listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange released social responsibility reports, more than that of companies listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange.