CBIRC Issues Green Finance Guidelines for Banks and Insurers
The China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC) issued the green finance guidelines for banking and insurance sectors, along with related questions and answers (Q&As) on the guidelines. These guidelines shall come into force on the date of promulgation.
The guidelines clarify green finance supervision responsibilities of CBIRC and its local offices to strengthen the guidance and assessment of green finance business of banking and insurance institutions. The guidelines require banking and insurance institutions to:
- thoroughly implement the new development philosophy, promote green finance from a strategic standpoint, increase support for a green, low-carbon and circular economy, prevent environmental, social and governance (ESG) risks, improve their own ESG performance, and promote an all-round green transition of economic and social development.
- establish a green finance organization and coordination mechanism, also encouraging them to carry out innovation in the green finance system.
- seek progress while maintaining stability, adjust and improve credit policies and investment policies, and actively support the building of a clean and low-carbon energy system, particularly in the areas of energy conservation, pollution reduction, carbon reduction, green enhancement, and disaster prevention of key industries and fields.
- strengthen process management of investment and financing activities, conduct due diligence on credit extension and investment, strengthen the management of credit and investment approval, urge clients to strengthen ESG risk management by refining contract terms, and improve post-loan and post-investment management.
- improve green finance management, adopt differentiated and convenient management measures, and optimize the ESG risk management of financing, online financing, and other businesses for micro and small enterprises.
- strengthen internal control management and information disclosure, establish a green finance assessment and evaluation system, implement incentive and restraint measures as well as the mechanism of exempting liabilities after fulfilling duties, to ensure the sustainable and effective development of green finance.
Related Links (in Chinese)
Keywords: Asia Pacific, China, Banking, Insurance, Green Finance, Climate Change Risk, ESG, Sustainable Finance, Guidelines, Disclosure, CBIRC
Featured Experts

James Partridge
Credit analytics expert helping clients understand, develop, and implement credit models for origination, monitoring, and regulatory reporting.

Michael Denton, PhD, PE
Dr. Denton provides industry leadership in the quantification of sustainability issues, climate risk, trade credit and emerging lending risks. His deep foundations in market and credit risk provide critical perspectives on how climate/sustainability risks can be measured, communicated and used to drive commercial opportunities, policy, strategy, and compliance. He supports corporate clients and financial institutions in leveraging Moody’s tools and capabilities to improve decision-making and compliance capabilities, with particular focus on the energy, agriculture and physical commodities industries.
Related Articles
BOE Sets Out Its Thinking on Regulatory Capital and Climate Risks
The Bank of England (BOE) published a working paper that aims to understand the climate-related disclosures of UK financial institutions.
OSFI Finalizes on Climate Risk Guideline, Issues Other Updates
The Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) is seeking comments, until May 31, 2023, on the draft guideline on culture and behavior risk, with final guideline expected by the end of 2023.
BIS Paper Examines Impact of Greenhouse Gas Emissions on Lending
BIS issued a paper that investigates the effect of the greenhouse gas, or GHG, emissions of firms on bank loans using bank–firm matched data of Japanese listed firms from 2006 to 2018.
HMT Mulls Alignment of Ring-Fencing and Resolution Regimes for Banks
The HM Treasury (HMT) is seeking evidence, until May 07, 2023, on practicalities of aligning the ring-fencing and the banking resolution regimes for banks.
BCBS Report Examines Impact of Basel III Framework for Banks
The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS) published results of the Basel III monitoring exercise based on the June 30, 2022 data.
PRA Consults on Prudential Rules for "Simpler-Regime" Firms
Among the recent regulatory updates from UK authorities, a key development is the first-phase consultation, from the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA), on simplifications to the prudential framework that would apply to the simpler-regime firms.
DNB Publishes Multiple Reporting Updates for Banks
DNB, the central bank of Netherlands, updated the list of additional reporting requests and published additional data quality checks and XBRL-Formula linkbase documents for the first quarter of 2023.
NBB Sets Out Climate Risk Expectations, Issues Reporting Updates
The National Bank of Belgium (NBB) published a communication on climate-related and environmental risks, issued an update on XBRL reporting
EBA Updates Address Securitization Standards and DGS Guidelines
The European Banking Authority (EBA) published the final draft of the regulatory technical standards that set out conditions for assessment of homogeneity of the underlying exposures in simple, transparent, and standardized (STS) securitizations.
FSB Publishes Letter to G20, Sets Out Work Priorities for 2023
The Financial Stability Board (FSB) published a letter intended for the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors, highlighting the work that FSB will take forward under the Indian G20 Presidency in 2023