Editor's note:On December 2, the 2023 Central and Local Cooperation Forum, guided by the Chinese Society for Policy Sciences and co-sponsored by the Economic Policy Committee of the Chinese Society for Policy Sciences and the Enterprise Observer, was held at the Beijing International Convention Center. With the theme of "State-owned Central Enterprises Help the High-quality Development of Local Economy", the guests and representatives at the forum focused on the cooperation between the central and local governments to share experience, stimulate wisdom, make suggestions and suggestions, and discuss development. More than 300 leaders and guests from national ministries and commissions, enterprises, local governments, local state-owned enterprises, scientific research institutes, and think tanks attended the forum. The following is a speech by Wang Yao, Dean of the International Institute of Green Finance of **University of Finance and Economics.
*Wang Yao, Dean of the International Institute of Green Finance, University of Finance and Economics.
How to give full play to the leading role of state-owned central enterprises and help the green and high-quality development of the local economy is an important issue of central and local cooperation.
The World Economic Forum publishes an annual report on global risks, among which environmental risks are among the top three risks every year, including the impact of climate change, extreme weather, the failure of human action on climate change, and biodiversity loss. At the same time, China also faces the risk of soil, air, water, solid waste pollution and inefficient use of resources.
China should strive for the "dual carbon" goals of carbon peak before 2030 and carbon neutrality before 2060. The "14th Five-Year Plan" proposes to implement the strategy of sustainable development, build an ecological civilization system, promote the comprehensive transformation of green economic and social development, and build a beautiful ChinaThe report of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China proposed to promote green development, promote the harmonious coexistence of man and nature, and jointly promote the four goals of carbon reduction, pollution reduction, green expansion and growth.
In this context, various market players in China have played a role in guiding green and low-carbon practices and promoting the comprehensive economic transformation of the country's economy and society, among which state-owned central enterprises, as an important pillar and force in building socialism with Chinese characteristics, play an irreplaceable role in promoting the high-quality development of the national and local economies.
As the pillar of the national economy, the industrial structure of the enterprise as a whole is on the side, starting from objective facts, state-owned central enterprises tightly grasp the key force of transformation, according to statistics, from 2016 to 2022, the cumulative excess capacity of steel of central enterprises is 16.44 million tons, and the excess capacity of coal is 11.9 billion tons, coal power, building materials, chemicals, cement and other industries are all making every effort to promote green transformation. Not only that, in the past five years, the average annual growth rate of investment in new materials, new energy and other fields of central enterprises has exceeded 20%;The digital transformation and 5G application sailing action have been further promoted, and it can be seen that state-owned central enterprises have taken the lead in providing support for the continuous transformation of the local economic and industrial structure to high-end and low-carbon, and to green and high-quality.
However, it should be noted that at present, there is still an imbalance in regional green development in the high-quality development of China's local economyThe local industrial structure is on the heavy side;Lack of capital, technology, and talent;There is a lack of a systematic green development strategy, the goal of dual control of energy consumption and carbon consumption restricts short-term investment in major local projects, and there are many problems such as the contradiction between short-term economic growth and long-term green and sustainable development.
In response to these problems, I put forward four suggestions on how state-owned central enterprises can support the green and high-quality development of the local economy
First of all, state-owned central enterprises should make full use of green finance to activate the green and low-carbon transformation of the upstream and downstream of the entire industrial chain, and empower local sustainable and high-quality development. Central SOEs occupy an important position in key areas and are also key units of energy production and energy consumption, which is directly related to whether the nationally determined contribution target can be achieved. As an important subject of the implementation of the "double carbon" work, state-owned central enterprises should make full use of diversified green financial products and services such as green loans, green bonds, green insurance, green trusts, and green financial leasing in combination with the needs and market energy level of local green industry development, and give full play to the main support and financing role of central enterprises in the local area, and join hands with upstream and downstream enterprises, small and medium-sized enterprises, Private enterprises carry out low-carbon transformation and upgrading, and help local governments strengthen the construction of industrial chains on the basis of strengthening the radiation and driving of the leading enterprises of central enterprises. At the same time, the central government should also focus on the adjustment of the industrial structure, deepen cooperation, lay out strategic emerging industries, guide the flow of funds to the development of related industries in the field of green and low-carbon, promote technological upgrading and consumption upgrading, and incorporate energy consumption intensity and carbon emission intensity indicators into the business performance assessment system of enterprises, promote the high-end, intelligent and green development of regional traditional industries, and work together to build advanced industrial clusters.
Secondly, it is necessary to integrate the understanding of environmental and social governance into the overall governance system of state-owned central enterprises from top to bottom, and deepen the practice of high-quality development at the local market level. ESG is a hot word at the moment, and this year, the SASAC launched the research results on the ESG special report of listed companies controlled by central enterprises, and sent it to the local SASAC, and at the same time, the International Sustainability Standards Committee has also put forward some corresponding sustainability reporting requirements. Under this requirement, the ESG special report will be an international passport for enterprises in the future, and will become the most important non-financial report in addition to financial statements, which should be highly valued. We find that at this stage, the practice of ESG concept basically stays at the level of the headquarters of central enterprises, and due to the wide distribution and large number of subsidiaries of central enterprises, there are still relatively large differences in ESG governance at the local level, and it is necessary to continue to strengthen the improvement of ESG management capabilities of local branches and subsidiaries of central enterprises.
Thirdly, it is necessary to strengthen the integration of production and technology of state-owned central enterprises, and promote the innovation of green and low-carbon technologies in local industries。Technology is the core key factor of high-quality development, and technological innovation needs financial support, so we must give full play to the unique advantages of state-owned central enterprises in breaking through original technologies and key core technologies, and play a more important role in green and low-carbon technological innovation.
Finally, it is necessary to further optimize the cooperation between state-owned central enterprises and local governments. The central and local cooperation is not a simple 1+1 model, but through the integration and reorganization of deepening the integration of project capital, building a cooperation platform and other advantages, optimizing the layout of the state-owned economy, promoting the coordinated development of the layout of local state-owned capital, promoting major industrial projects, and using the diversified financial tools and services of the capital market to help the central and local cooperation, revitalize local green assets, promote local investment and financing, and promote the development of green and low-carbon industries.
State-owned central enterprises are an important part of China's economy, and the high-quality development of the local economy is inseparable from the intermediate role of state-owned central enterprises. It is hoped that in the future, state-owned central enterprises can continue to play the role of pillars, make full use of green financial products and services in combination with the needs of local industrial development, and support the high-quality development of the local economy.