Gao Jianping Nominated as China's 50 Most Influential Business Leaders

The list of “China’s 50 Most Influential Business Leaders 2014” of Fortune (Chinese version) was announced on April 1. Gao Jianping, Board Chairman of Industrial Bank, is listed as the youngest banker, ranking No. 34.

As an authoritative list commend the outstanding business leaders of China, the “China’s 50 Most Influential Business Leaders 2014” of Fortune (Chinese version) has been released for 10 consecutive years. The appraisal of listed entrepreneurs, the judging panel indicated, is to select those outstanding leaders who can influence corporate management, industrial pattern and broader business world by way of tracked observation and evaluation over all industry leaders. “We pay attention to how these business leaders mount their career summits, how they keep preeminent and the organizations that they lead.”

The judging panel gives the following comment on the selection of Chairman Gao, “Gao Jianping has developed Industrial Bank (IB), which was initiated at a corner of Fujian, into an outstanding player among joint-stock commercial banks around China”, and meanwhile, IB “as the first Chinese bank launching energy conservation and emission reduction loan, energy efficiency financing, carbon finance and environment finance, is also the only bank promising to follow the Equator Principles at home now”.

Over the 14 years under his leadership, IB has always kept fast and sound development constantly, becoming an eye-catching blue chip in the Chinese capital market. According to the 2013 report of IB released on March 31, by the end of 2013, its total assets hit RMB 3.7 trillion, with a compound annual growth rate of 34% since 2000; the net profits attributable to the parent company reached RMB 41 billion, with a compound annual growth rate of 44%; the basic earnings per share hit RMB 2.16, and the net asset value per share RMB 10.49. Up to now, IB has established 101 branches across the entire country (including Hong Kong Branch), with a number of subsidiaries under its sole investment or controlling by shares, which engage in trust, lease, fund and assets management. It has grown into a modern financial service group focusing on the principal banking businesses, making presence in Global Top 50 Banks, Fortune Global 500, and the global Top 200 of listed companies.

While keeping all business in steady development, the board of directors of IB under the lead of Chairman Gao, with a strategic understanding of corporate social responsibilities, has incorporated corporate social responsibility and the philosophy of sustainability into the Bank’s business operation and management practices, creatively put forward the way to perform corporate social responsibilities through “obtaining reasonable profits while bringing benefits to the stakeholders”, constructed a sound situation where human can live in harmony with the nature, environment and society through innovation in business models, and took the lead to announce the adoption of Equator Principles, becoming the only Equator Bank in China up to now.

From the implementation of the first energy efficiency financing project, to the first low-carbon credit card, which introduced low-carbon concept into the area of personal finance, and to taking the lead to launch emission rights pledged credit and carbon assets pledged credit, IB has continued leading the innovation trend of “green finance” in three major areas, including low-carbon economy, recycling economy and ecological economy, becoming the forerunner and advocator of “green finance” in China. By the end of 2013, IB has granted green finance based financing of RMB 341.4 billion to over 1,000 enterprises across China accumulatively and financial support of over RMB 60 billion for the utilization and protection of water resources. The Bank deserves a range of honors given to it, including the  “Commercial Bank with the Best Performance of Social Responsibilities”, the “Carbon-value Social Citizen Award” conferred by the World Economical and Environmental Conference, the “Best Green Bank”, and the “Outstanding Nature Protection Supporter Award”, etc.

Though after 26 years, IB has developed from a small local bank into one of the Global Top 50 Banks, Chairman Gao still often describes the Bank a young one. On the road to strive for building a long-flourishing first-rate bank, he always tells his employees, “we are still a young bank in the process of development, and we need to keep studying and make progress.” 

Although he has been given a number of titles by insiders and outsiders, including “Annual Chinese Banking Figure”, “Innovative Banker”, “Leading Figure for Social Responsibility”, “Board Chairman with the Best Strategic Perspective”, “Best Board Chairman for Contribution in Social Responsibility”, and “Robert A. Mundell World Executive Award for Achievement”, Chairman Gao himself has kept a low profile and call himself a “banking manager” all the time.