Chinese firms told to step up on ESG

Chinese companies looking to list abroad will have to pay more attention to environmental, social, and governance disclosures in the future, said a senior official of China's securities regulator.

The Sustainability Disclosure Standards, once adopted in many countries, will have a huge impact on Chinese companies if they plan to make overseas listings, said Fang Xinghai, vice chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission.

Meanwhile, international investors will also take relevant disclosures into account when they invest in Chinese firms, Fang noted, adding that a firm's valuation with fewer or no ESG disclosures would be affected.

Shares of CNOOC (0883) fell ahead of its Shanghai debut today despite a profit alert and this widened the gap between the price of the oil giant's A-shares and H-shares.

CNOOC lost 4.1 percent in Hong Kong yesterday although the firm said it expected its net profit to jump up to 89 percent to 28 billion yuan (HK$34.3 billion) from a year ago.

The firm has priced its Shanghai offering at 10.8 yuan per share, an 18.4 percent premium to its Hong Kong share price yesterday.