China Net Finance, April 17 With the successive disclosure of the 2023 annual reports of many banks, the "report card" of green finance has been revealed. According to statistics from China.com financial reporters, as of the end of 2023, the balance of green loans of 6 major state-owned banks and 8 national joint-stock banks such as China Merchants Bank and China CITIC Bank totaled 20.59 trillion yuan, an increase of more than 40%. At the same time, many banks have accelerated the pace of innovation in green financial products and services, and continued to improve the quality and efficiency of green financial services.
It is worth noting that recently, the field of green finance ushered in a blockbuster policy, and seven departments including the People's Bank of China jointly issued the "Guiding Opinions on Further Strengthening Financial Support for Green and Low-Carbon Development", which put forward clear requirements around optimizing the green finance standard system and strengthening information disclosure, and also set new goals for the development of green finance.
Green loans maintained rapid growth
According to data disclosed by the People's Bank of China, at the end of 2023, the balance of green loans in local and foreign currencies was 30.08 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 36.5%, 26.4 percentage points higher than the growth rate of various loans, and an increase of 8.48 trillion yuan from the beginning of the year. As of the end of 2023, the balance of green loans of 6 major state-owned banks and 8 national joint-stock banks, including China Merchants Bank, China CITIC Bank, Everbright Bank, Minsheng Bank, Industrial Bank, Ping An Bank, Zheshang Bank and Hengfeng Bank, totaled 20.59 trillion yuan, an increase of more than 40%.
In 2023, the green credit business of large state-owned banks will maintain rapid development. As of the end of 2023, the total balance of green finance loans of the six major state-owned banks was 17.90 trillion yuan, accounting for more than half of the domestic green loan market.
Specifically, as of the end of 2023, ICBC (State Administration of Financial Regulation) had nearly 5.4 trillion yuan of green loans, an increase of nearly 1.4 trillion yuan from the end of the previous year, and the balance of green credit business of Agricultural Bank of China was 4.05 trillion yuan, an increase of 1.35 trillion yuan or 50.09% from the end of the previous year.
The balance of green loans of China Construction Bank and Bank of China both exceeded 3 trillion yuan. As of the end of 2023, the balance of green loans of CCB was 3.88 trillion yuan, an increase of 1.13 trillion yuan or 41.19% from the previous year, the balance of green credit of Bank of China was 3.11 trillion yuan, an increase of 1.12 trillion yuan or 56.34% from the end of the previous year, the balance of green loans of domestic banking institutions of Bank of Communications was 822.042 billion yuan, an increase of 29.37% from the end of the previous year, and the balance of green loans of PSBC was 637.878 billion yuan, an increase of 28.46% from the end of the previous year.
At the same time, the green credit of national joint-stock banks has also achieved rapid growth. As of the end of 2023, the balance of green loans of the People's Bank of China was RMB809.019 billion, an increase of 26.99% from the end of the previous year, the balance of green credit of China CITIC Bank was RMB459.022 billion, an increase of 37.40% from the end of the previous year, the balance of green loans of China Merchants Bank was RMB447.765 billion, an increase of 26.00% from the end of the previous year, and the balance of green loans of China Everbright Bank was RMB313.762 billion, an increase of 57.44% from the end of the previous year. The balance of green credit of Minsheng Bank was 264.241 billion yuan, an increase of 46.87% over the end of the previous year, and the balance of green loans of Ping An Bank was 139.647 billion yuan, an increase of 27.22% over the end of the previous year.
Lou Feipeng, a researcher at the Postal Savings Bank, said in an interview with a financial reporter from China.com that from the demand side, the concept of green development has gradually taken root in the hearts of the people, and the rapid development of green economy and green industry has provided a large market demand space for the development of green credit. From a policy perspective, structural monetary policy tools such as carbon emission reduction support tools and special re-lending to support the clean and efficient use of coal have been launched for the development of green finance, and financial institutions have been guided to increase support for green development. From the perspective of supply, banking financial institutions actively focus on the big article of green finance, constantly innovate products and services, and promote the development of green credit. "It is expected that green credit will continue to maintain a high growth rate in the future. Lou Feipeng said.
Zhou Maohua, a macro researcher at the financial market department of Everbright Bank, said that the mainland has increased the inclination and support of credit resources in the green sector, and the development of the green sector has also led to the rapid growth of related credit financing demand, and it is expected that there is still a lot of room for growth in green credit. At the same time, with the continuous development of the financial service system, green financial products will continue to be enriched.
Improve the quality and efficiency of green financial services
In addition to green credit, the 2023 annual reports of a number of banks disclosed the development of green bonds. In 2023, Bank of China issued US$2.4 billion worth of offshore green financial bonds and RMB30 billion worth of onshore green financial bonds, and successfully issued the world's first batch of green bonds on the theme of Belt and Road cooperation and the world's first USD sustainability-linked loan bond. The underwriting scale of domestic green bond issuance was 341.658 billion yuan, and the issuance scale of overseas green bonds was 29.760 billion US dollars.
In 2023, Bank of Communications issued RMB 30 billion of domestic green financial bonds to actively support the development of green industries such as energy conservation and environmental protection, clean production, clean energy, and green infrastructure upgrades. As of the end of 2023, PSBC has an investment balance of 36.769 billion yuan in green bonds, and the underwriting scale of green bonds is 6.087 billion yuan.
"There is a large space for green development, and a variety of financial services are also needed, so the banking industry needs to give full play to its own advantages, and provide financial services for the issuance of green bonds through investment banking business while doing a good job in green loans with the service model of commercial banks and investment banks. Lou Feipeng said.
At the same time, many banks have accelerated the pace of innovation in green financial products and services, and continued to improve the quality and efficiency of green financial services. For example, in 2023, ICBC will continue to enrich the green finance "toolbox" and build a diversified green financial service system by using various methods such as credit, bonds, equity, leasing, and funds. In addition, the bank innovatively launched ESG-themed wealth management products and issued a number of green fund products invested in the fields of ecological environment, ESG and carbon neutrality.
In 2023, IB launched a number of first-time orders and pioneered innovative green finance products, including the first batch of CCER project development-linked loans in China after the resumption of the CCER market, and the first batch of cross-performance carbon emission rights pledge financing business in the national carbon market. At the same time, we will accelerate digital transformation and launch the first comprehensive service platform for dual carbon management in the domestic banking industry, the dual carbon management platform, covering three major functional sectors: corporate carbon account, personal carbon account, and group operation carbon management.
Zheshang Bank continued to strengthen policy guidance, professional operation and assessment incentives, promoted product and service models such as carbon easy loans, photovoltaic loans, and carbon emission reduction support tools, and made efforts from green credit, green bonds, green investment, etc., to guide resources to flow into clean energy and environment-friendly industries and other related fields.
Do a good job in green finance
The 2023 Central Financial Work Conference proposed that high-quality development is the primary task of building a modern socialist country in an all-round way, and finance should provide high-quality services for economic and social development. Among them, it is clear that "do a good job in science and technology finance, green finance, inclusive finance, pension finance, and digital finance".
In order to implement the major decisions and deployments of the Party Central Committee and the State Council on carbon peaking and carbon neutrality, and do a good job in green finance, the People's Bank of China and other seven departments recently jointly issued the "Guiding Opinions", which makes clear plans for optimizing the green finance standard system, strengthening information disclosure, and promoting the development of green financial products and markets.
The main objectives of the Guiding Opinions are that in the next five years, the world's leading financial system for supporting green and low-carbon development will be basically established, and by 2035, various economic and financial green and low-carbon policies will be promoted in a coordinated and efficient manner, the standard system and policy support system for financial support for green and low-carbon development will be more mature, and the functions of resource allocation, risk management and market pricing will be better played.
The "Guiding Opinions" clearly put forward the need to optimize the green finance standard system. Promote the gradual implementation of carbon accounting in the financial system, establish and improve carbon accounting methods and databases for financial institutions, formulate and introduce unified carbon accounting standards for financial institutions and financial businesses, and encourage financial institutions and enterprises to use big data, financial technology and other technical means to provide technical support for carbon accounting. Formulate a unified green finance standard system, and accelerate the research and formulation of transition finance standards.
The relevant person in charge of the People's Bank of China said that in order to further promote the development of green financial products and markets, the "Guiding Opinions" put forward specific measures from five aspects: promoting the construction of carbon emission trading market, increasing green credit support, further increasing the capital market's support for green and low-carbon development, vigorously developing green insurance and services, and expanding green financial market participants.
"Under the premise of legal compliance, controllable risks and commercial sustainability, financial institutions are encouraged to use green finance or transition finance standards to increase credit support for green development and low-carbon transformation in the fields of energy, industry, transportation, and construction. The relevant person in charge of the People's Bank of China said.
(Editor in charge: Wang Chenxi)
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