On December 19, 2011, the “10th Chinese Corporate Governance Forum” sponsored by Shanghai Stock Exchange and jointly supported by the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council (SASAC) and Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) was held in Shanghai. Guo Shuqing, Chairman of China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC), Han Zheng, Mayor of Shanghai, and other officials attended the forum and presented awards to the winning companies. Ten listed companies including Industrial Bank (IB) w on the 2011 “Board of Directors Award”, and Gao Jianping, Board Chairman of IB, attended the forum and received the award on behalf of the Bank.
The “Special Awards for Chinese Corporate Governance” are the highest honors granted to listed companies by the Chinese securities regulatory authorities in the field of corporate governance. The special awards established in 2011 include the “Board of Directors Award”, “Information Disclosure Award”, and “Typical Merger, Acquisition, and Restructuring Case Award”, etc. Each award was presented to ten winners following the voluntary participation of listed companies, verification of application materials, preliminary selection, appraisal of expert committee and the GM meeting of Shanghai Stock Exchange approval procedures. IB w on the 2011 “Board of Directors Award” with its outstanding performance in corporate governance.
Shanghai Stock Exchange granted the award to IB for the following reasons: the board of directors of IB furthered its corporate governance construction, specified the construction objective s and the direction of its board of directors, established the sustainable governance concept, created a good atmosphere for scientific and democratic decision-making, built a system for the board of directors to undertake investigation and organize training for study, and formed an unimpeded conduction mechanism for corporate governance.” The fact that IB w on the 2011 “Board of Directors Award” further signifies that the regulatory authorities of the securities market and investors fully recognize the corporate governance construction of IB, highlighting that the corporate governance of IB has reached an advanced level in China.
As one of the first group of joint-stock commercial banks, IB was founded in 1988 and was listed at the Shanghai Stock Exchange on February 5, 2007. Over 23 years, adhering to the sustainable concept and sticking to market-oriented operation, IB has continued to grow together with its customers and employees. The board of directors of IB has actively transformed its corporate governance objective from “shareholders' interests foremost” to “giving consideration to the interests of stakeholders”, and to “giving full consideration to the appeals of multi ple parties”, and practiced the business model of “obtaining reasonable profits while bringing benefits to the stakeholders”. The Bank has continued promoting environmental protection and increasing the interests of communities and customers by providing financial products and services, and making efforts to construct a harmonious interest structure. Currently, IB has made great breakthroughs in terms of overall strength, strategic progress, operational transformation and market position, ranking among the top 10 Chinese banks, top 100 global banks, and top 300 global listed companies. In 2008, IB became the first Chinese bank to adopt the Equator Principles. In 2009, the Bank won the “Asian Sustainable Banking Gold Award” jointly appraised by the IFC and the UK Financial Times, and the “China Baosteel Environment Prize”, the highest social prize appraised under the organization of governmental departments such as the Ministry of Environmental Protection in the environmental field in China.
Centering on the theme of “Overall IPO, Information Disclosure and Development of Listed Companies”, the 10th Chinese Corporate Governance Forum discussed two sub-themes, “Overall IPO & Associated Transaction s and Horizontal Competition” as well as “Descriptive Information Disclosure and Company Transparency”. This forum is of great significance for popularizing the best practices and successful experiences in corporate governance, encouraging listed companies to improve their core competitiveness, enhancing the transparency of listed companies, and facilitating the healthy development of the capital market in China, etc.