PBOC to guide funds toward green-edged ESG investments

China's central bank officials said they will accord priority to ESG-themed investments henceforth and see the national carbon trading mechanism as key to implementing the country's green and low-carbon development strategy, thus encouraging injection of long-term social funds into the huge market.

Fan Yifei, a deputy governor of the People's Bank of China, disclosed over the weekend that the central bank plans to guide long-term investment funds, including pension funds, insurance and social security products, to invest in the ESG－environmental, social and governance－markets.

Financial institutions can gradually plug into the national carbon trading system, which was established on July 16. And carbon derivatives like forwards, futures and options will be developed, Fan said at the Global Asset Management Forum in Beijing on Saturday.