Winners of the 12 categories announced

SHANGHAI, Oct. 28, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- After months of hard work by applicants and judges, the winners of the inaugural ESG China Awards were announced on 27 October in Shanghai.

Organised by the British Chamber of Commerce Shanghai (BritCham Shanghai), the ESG China Awards is a programme recognising and promoting excellence from businesses and organisations that have made a positive ESG impact. The Awards are open to businesses and organisations (local and international) that operate in China. The 2022 Awards are supported by the Shanghai United Assets and Equity Exchange, AustCham Shanghai, CanCham Shanghai and Impact Hub Shanghai.

Representatives from the Awards partners, judging panels, applicants, sponsors, chambers of commerce and consulates gathered to celebrate and recognise the outstanding ESG work of the participating companies.

Ray Chisnall, BritCham Shanghai Chair, said in his opening remarks:

"The rapid development & adoption of ESG across the global community has been heartening to see. ESG can bridge divides across cultures, languages, businesses and hopefully geopolitics and I believe presents us with a unique opportunity to move business and society forward in a more sustainable way.

ESG has been in the past two years, and will continue to be, one of our Chamber's key areas moving forward to support our members and the wider business community. Through peer support and sharing of experience, knowledge and expertise, we aim to help develop an eco-system for ESG best practices in China and the global market."

ESG China Awards Chair, Board Member of Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), Dr Jianzhong Lu said,

"I would like to express my thanks to all the businesses, organisations and individuals who applied for the Awards. Thank you for your active participation and preparation. Although the Awards is a new and young programme set up in this challenging time, we have received 115 qualified applications from all over the country. From Beijing to Shanghai, Wuhan to Shenzhen and Hong Kong, the impressive applications representing diverse industry sectors. The outstanding applicants include both foreign-owned enterprises rooted in China and nearly 40% were from local Chinese businesses.

We are pleased to see that, regardless of the size of the company, the concept of sustainable development is more and more deeply integrated into corporate thinking, strategy and operation as well as closely combined with the major issues of China's economic and social environment. They have made new progress in corporate governance, low-carbon promotion, environmental protection, rural revitalisation, diversity and inclusion, including some admirable innovative achievements.

In recent years, China has continuously accumulated professional knowledge and experience in ESG, actively promoted top-level design, and improved relevant laws and regulations at the policy level. China's unswerving 'carbon peaking and carbon neutrality' goals also provide a golden opportunity for the development of industries and cities involved in ESG. At tonight's dinner, we are attended by experts, pioneers and practitioners in the field of ESG. I hope that through the ESG China Awards platform, we can all learn from each other and actively promote the rapid development of ESG practices in our respective fields."

After the initial screening by the 12 independent judging panels and online interviews, then combined with a comprehensive assessment by the Award's Advisory Panel, and all overseen by an independent auditor, the 2022 winners are as follows:

Finalists of the Awards can be viewed here. More photos from the Awards Gala Dinner can be viewed here.