China CITIC Bank released its 2023 Sustainability Report

A few days ago, China CITIC Bank released its 2023 annual sustainability report. In his speech at the report, Chairman Fang Heying said that sustainable development has become a "must-answer question" for the high-quality development of enterprises, and China CITIC Bank will move towards "stepping into the forefront of the competition of world-class banks", help build a financial power with high-quality financial development, and give full play to the financial capabilities and strengths of CITIC in the "five major articles".

According to the report, China CITIC Bank has always kept in mind the development mission of "serving the real economy and helping financial power", and actively built a value creation capability that integrates economic, environmental and social benefits. In 2023, China CITIC Bank became an early learning partner of the International Sustainability Standards (ISSB), and won many honors such as "Best Practice Case of Board of Directors" and "Best Practice Case of ESG" of Chinese listed companies.

Adhere to the overall situation of service, and unswervingly take the road of supporting entities

China CITIC Bank has always regarded serving the real economy as the fundamental purpose of its business development, closely following the national policy guidance and industrial development strategy, and increasing financial support for key areas and weak links of the real economy.

As of the end of 2023, the balance of CITIC Bank's loans to strategic emerging industries, medium- and long-term manufacturing industries, and inclusive finance reached RMB531.9 billion, RMB258.6 billion, and RMB545.1 billion, up by 25%, 28%, and 22% year-on-year, respectively, far exceeding the average growth rate of the bank's loans. In 2023, the balance of science and technology innovation financial loans will be 415.7 billion yuan, serving 27,144 "specialized, special and new" enterprises, and the inclusive financial digital innovation ecology will be awarded the "first prize of financial technology development" by the People's Bank of China.

Adhere to low-carbon development and unswervingly follow the path of green transformation

China CITIC Bank deeply understands that green development is the background color of high-quality development, and it is also a major historical opportunity for the transformation and structural adjustment of the bank's business. In 2023, China CITIC Bank formulated a medium- and long-term green finance development plan, created a "1+N+N" green financial product spectrum covering credit, bonds, insurance and funds, and innovatively launched a one-stop service model of "green technology + green consulting + green finance" based on the synergistic advantages of the group.

As of the end of 2023, China CITIC Bank's green credit balance reached RMB459 billion, an increase of 37% from the beginning of the year, far exceeding the average growth rate of the bank's loans, and the balance of investment in green bonds increased by 58% year-on-year. "CITIC Carbon Account" and China UnionPay have pioneered the "Carbon Account Interoperability System" in the industry, with more than 8 million users and a cumulative emission reduction of more than 10,000 tons. In addition, China CITIC Bank has kept up with the pace of global climate governance, steadily promoted the construction of a "climate-friendly bank", became a member of the "China Climate Investment and Financing Alliance", and released the bank's first Environmental Information Disclosure (TCFD) report.

Adhere to common prosperity and unswervingly follow the road of rural revitalization

China CITIC Bank actively supports the national rural revitalization strategy, provides strong impetus for rural transformation with diversified and multi-level financial products, and has become the only joint-stock commercial bank that has been rated as an excellent financial institution for rural revitalization for two consecutive years. In 2023, China CITIC Bank also launched a series of characteristic wealth management products called "Co-prosperity and Co-creation", extending investment and wealth management services to remote counties, and innovatively launching special products such as "credit e-sales" grain procurement loans and "frozen production e-loans", continuously enriching the product lineage of rural revitalization and helping the construction of beautiful villages, with a balance of agriculture-related loans of RMB560.4 billion, an increase of 15% over the beginning of the year. In addition, the bank continued to increase its support for key areas such as industrial assistance, employment assistance and industrial development in poverty alleviation areas, with the balance of loans for targeted financial assistance increasing by 13% year-on-year, and the balance of loans for poverty alleviation areas increasing by 16% year-on-year, benefiting more than one million customers.

Adhere to the "finance for the people" and unswervingly follow the road of "people first".

China CITIC Bank clearly adheres to the people-centered value orientation, comprehensively improves the quality and capacity of financial supply, and better meets the people's growing needs for a better life.

In 2023, China CITIC Bank will leverage the synergistic advantages of the Group to build the "CITIC Wealth Plaza" to provide customers with high-quality wealth management services that are digital, online and inclusive. The bank upgraded the "happiness +" pension financial service system, built a closed loop of services covering "wealth, health, medical care and longevity", and formed a comprehensive service ecosystem covering the "Z era", "Mesozoic generation" and "silver generation", and served more than 3 million customers with pension ledgers. At the same time, the bank continued to make efforts in volunteer service and public charity, explored the "charity + finance" product and service model, innovatively launched the "Warm Children's Walk" series of charity wealth management products, raised more than 5 billion yuan, and built more than 210 "Dream Center" multimedia classrooms in remote areas relying on the "Love, Letter, Hui" public welfare platform.

Adhere to the "right and defended" and unswervingly take the road of compliance management

China CITIC Bank adheres to high-quality development and high-level security and benign interaction, continuously improves the modern corporate governance system, improves the scientific and effective operation mechanism, scientifically prevents and resolves financial risks, and the risk compliance culture is becoming more and more deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.

China CITIC Bank continued to improve its risk management system and mechanism, built a risk control system that "effectively controls risks and promotes development", further improved the compliance management system of "horizontal to the edge and vertical to the end", and carried out more than 11,000 warning education sessions throughout the year. At the same time, China CITIC Bank continued to improve the construction of consumer protection systems and mechanisms, improved the level of intelligent risk prevention and control, continued to improve the "sentinel" anti-fraud risk control system, dissuaded more than 1,000 deceived customers, protected more than 100 million yuan, and intercepted more than 1.5 billion yuan of funds through the investigation and control of suspicious accounts, and in 2023, the number of product and service reviews increased by 85% year-on-year, and the number of complaints decreased by 17% year-on-year.

Adhere to the "talent forcibly" and unswervingly take the road of achieving employees

China CITIC Bank actively practices the talent concept of "uniting those who forge ahead, motivates doers, and achieves promising people", broadens career development channels, implements the two-dimensional evaluation orientation of "performance + ability", deeply implements the "Hundred Ships and Thousands of Sails" demonstration talent project, launches the first batch of "Beginner's Heart Plan" party building talent training, selects and trains nearly 7,000 managers and professional and technical talents at all levels, and organizes nearly 370,000 vocational skills trainings More than 10,000 grassroots questions and suggestions have been accepted and responded.

In the next step, China CITIC Bank will be guided by the political and people-oriented nature of financial work, with the vision of stepping into the forefront of the world-class banking competition, and with the goal of creating more value for customers.

Contributed by Wang Ping

Editor: Yuan Biao

Review: Wang Wei Gu Jun

Proofreading: Rui Tianshu