On December 2, China CSR Commonweal Ceremony and the 9th China CSR Summit 2016”, sponsored by Xinhuanet.com, Research Center for Corporate Social Responsibility of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and other institutions, was held in Beijing. Gao Jianping, chairman of IB received “2016 Outstanding Figure of Social Responsibility in China”.
Taking the command from 2000, Gao Jianping led IB to make great progress: from a regional bank through a national bank, a listed bank to comprehensive financial service group with bank as the mainstay. Now its scale of asset ranks first among stock-holding commercial banks in China. Although Gao Jianping is noted for a low profile, he still got lots of awards within and outside the banking industry— “China’s 50 Most Influential Business Leaders”, “Annual China Banking Figure”, “Innovative Banker”, “Chairman with Greatest Strategic Insight”, “Chairman with Social Responsibility” etc.
While leading the rapid development of IB, Gao Jianping, a banker with great strategic insight and awareness of social responsibility, gives more thought to sustainable development, and how to transform IB into a first-class and time-honored bank. He said, in order to become a first-class and time-honored bank, IB should pursue its dream and give equal consideration to business profit and social responsibility.
Since its inception, IB has taken “explore financial reform and make more contributions to economic construction” as the purpose of running the bank, and later set out the goal of “build a first-class and time-honored bank”. It always attaches great importance to corporate social responsibility. But does “to fulfill corporate social responsibility” simply mean paying tax in accordance with law, creating employment and making public welfare donations? As a commercial bank, is there a far-reaching and effective business mode that lays emphasis on both business development and social responsibility and that promotes coordinated development of environment, society, economy and enterprise while obtaining economic benefits?
As the chairman, Gao pointed out in a forward-looking way that “only looking at corporate social responsibility from a strategic point of view can we throw the greatest positive influence to the society and achieve sustainable development at the same time” a decade ago. Promoted by Gao, board of directors of IB reached a consensus, set out a corporate governance philosophy of sustainable development and social responsibility value, and built good mechanisms of top-level design that restrict, command and guide operation, management and business activities of the whole group in a top-down way.
Guided by the concept of sustainable development, IB established a leading group for social responsibility led by Gao, innovatively put forward the corporate social responsibility practice philosophy of “obtaining reasonable profits while bringing benefits to the stakeholders”, and established social responsibility practice strategy of “further understanding of the relationship between social responsibilities of a bank and its own sustainable development, exploring different ways for corporate to fulfill social responsibilities and maintaining the harmony between human, nature, environment and society”. In June 2008, board of directors of IB unanimously approved Proposal on Applying to Join Equator Principles, and set up work group for Equator Principles headed by Gao to promote work related to Equator Principles. In October of that year, IB officially announced that it adopts Equator Principles and became the first equator bank in China.
Wealth is not selfish and resources should benefit all. Increasingly serious environmental problems associated with rapid economic growth in China made IB realize that as the core of economy and lever of resources adjustment, it is incumbent on banks to promote harmonious development between man, nature, environment and society.
As a prominent practice of corporate social responsibility practice philosophy of “obtaining reasonable profits while bringing benefits to the stakeholders”, China’s first energy efficiency finance project was initiated by IB and IFC, an overseas strategic investor in 2006, marking the beginning of IB’s a decade’s exploration in green finance. After a decade’s exploration and practice, it has formed a complete and multifarious green financial product service system covering green financing, green leasing, green trust, green fund, green investment and green consumption, becoming an innovation model of green finance in China. By the end of October 2016, IB has accumulatively granted green finance of over RMB one trillion for over 6700 enterprises. Projects supported by IB can save 26.36 million tons of coal equivalents and reduce 73.83 million tons of carbon dioxide each year. It is equivalent to shutting off 169 thermal power plants of 100 MW or the total amount of carbon dioxide absorbed by 7.38 million hectares of forests per year. Thus IB deserves its fame as a leader of green finance in China.
As China's first Equator Bank, IB attracts attention of sustainable finance field at home and abroad. It was repeatedly invited to attend essential international events including global climate conference, and made China’s voice heard by international community; it participated in drawing up relative policies led by some regulatory departments including China Banking Regulatory Commission and the People’s Bank of China, such as implementation plan for self-evaluation of green credit, guidelines on energy efficiency credit, management plan for green financial debt etc.; it became one of the main participants that set the standard for green financial product in China. Meanwhile, IB constantly popularizes advanced concepts and management experience including Equator Principles among clients, so more and more clients convert from being passive to follow Equator Principles to actively managing self-environment and social risk with standard of Equator Principles.
It also vigorously promotes inclusive finance, elderly care finance as well as small and micro finance, and achieves harmonious development between social benefits and comprehensive economic benefits of the bank. As a leader of interbank cooperation in China, IB upholds the business concept of “a common platform to share resources and achieve win-win results through joint construction”, and energetically develops “interbank platform”, relies on large service network and massive client resources to transmit advanced management experience, financial products and technological capability to cities of the third and fourth tiers as well as small- and medium-sized financial institutions in rural and remote areas including rural commercial banks, rural credit cooperatives and village banks. So financial products and services can benefit “agriculture, the countryside and farmers” and small and micro clients, and clients of regional small- and medium-sized financial institutions can use their cards or passbooks across China. It opens up IB-style inclusive finance. At present the “interbank platform” has had 878 cooperative banks and has networked more than 43.6 thousand outlets for on-the-counter settlement, becoming the largest provider of commercial bank information system in China.
While developing its businesses, IB also repays the society and participates in public welfare cause on a regular basis and it has put in place a public welfare mechanism combining regular donation, disaster assistance, “student help-fund”, “disaster fund” and “poverty relieving fund”. For ages, IB and over 50 thousand staff across China are committed to charity with gratitude, like dandelions that spread love. According to incomplete statistics, IB donated more than RMB 120 million to charity over the past three years.