On November 27, a research group on corporate governance evaluation led by Professor Li Wei’an from the China Academy of Corporate Governance of Nankai University, together with the Shenzhen Research Association of Corporate Governance, released the “Shenzhen Listed Company Governance Evaluation Report(2020)” in Shenzhen. This is the fourth consecutive release of the regional corporate governance evaluation report since the first “Shenzhen Listed Company Governance Evaluation Report (2017)” was issued by the two parties in 2017. It also marks a significant application of the China’s Listed Company Governance Index(CCGI^NK) developed by the China Academy of Corporate Governance in 2003 and released annually since then.

In October of this year, the General Office of the CPC Central Committee and the General Office of the State Council issued the “Implementation Plan of the Comprehensive Reform Program for Building a Pilot Demonstration Zone of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics in Shenzhen (2020-2025)”, in an effort to support Shenzhen in carrying out pilot reform programs with authorization and further promote its reform and opening-up. The reform and development undertaken in Shenzhen has also created a large number of listed companies with high reputations, scientific governance and advanced technology. Therefore, Shenzhen’s public companies should consistently strive to improve their governance quality so as to fulfill the historic mission of building a pilot free trade zone. After four consecutive releases of the“Shenzhen Listed Company Governance Evaluation Report”from 2017 to 2019, the China Academy of Corporate Governance of Nankai University and Shenzhen Research Association of Corporate Governance, taking the 40^th anniversary of the special economic zone as an opportunity, jointly released the “Shenzhen Listed Company Governance Evaluation Report(2020)” in November, 2020. Aimed at accurately understanding the governance quality and capability of Shenzhen’s listed companies, as well as helping them to develop  corporate governance ability, the report evaluated 298 listed companies in Shenzhen based on the CCGI^NK.

The report shows that the corporate governance index of Shenzhen’s listed companies in 2020 is 64.17, 0.49 higher than last year, which is better than the national level (63.49). From the six dimensions of corporate governance, the report finds that the overall level of corporate governance of Shenzhen’s public companies leads the country, but there are still some obvious imbalances in their development. Based on detailed evaluations, the report puts forward targeted policy suggestions to improve corporate governance ability.

As environmental problems have become increasingly severe in recent decades, the relationship between humans and nature has emerged as one of the most critical issues facing the world today. Meanwhile, the raging COVID-19 pandemic has made green governance popular among people. In order to encourage public companies in Shenzhen to practice green governance, the conference also conducted the offline issue of the Green Governance Index (980058) of the China Academy of Corporate Governance. In addition, the “Special Report on Women Directors of Listed Companies” compiled by the China Academy of Corporate Governance was also released at the conference.

More than 200 people from all walks of life, including representatives from more than 40 award-winning listed companies, attended the conference. In addition, nearly 50,000 people watched the conference via the internet.

For the sake of reflecting the governance of listed companies objectively, the China Academy of Corporate Governance of Nankai University, also known as the Key Research Base of Humanities and Social Studies of the Ministry of Education, has published the CCGI^NK annually since 2003. A total of 38,169 listed companies in China have been evaluated for 18 consecutive years (2003-2020). Consequently, the index has been praised as the “barometer” of the corporate governance of China’s listed companies.

(Reported by Chen Hao, Translated by Dongze Wu, Edited by STEFAN SARAH DANIELLE and JianjingYun)