Materiality Analysis of CSR Reports by CSI 100 Components

(July 28^th, 2017, Beijing) On July 28^th, CSR consulting firm SynTao released its recent research on materiality analysis of CSR reports by China Securities Index 100 (CSI 100) components. It is the first research of its kind domestically.

Since 2002, the number of CSR reports released by CSI 100 component stocks has gradually increased. In 2009, the number shot up, which is in line with the long-term observation of domestic CSR reporting by SynTao. Policy guidelines to enforce/encourage CSR reporting issued by the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC) as well as Shanghai and Shenzhen Stock exchanges contributed to that great leap. By the end of 2016, nearly 90% of CSI 100 components had published CSR reports.

The research chose CSI 100 components updated in December 2016 as sample and used Material and Quantitative Indicators (MQI) Guidelines of different sectors developed by SynTao to evaluate 85 CSR reports included in this research.  

The research found that,

• Among CSI 100 components, state-owned enterprises and companies of financial sector have largest accumulated number of CSR reports;
• The average disclosure rate of these 85 CSR reports is only 41%, which means 8 material and quantitative indicators out of 20 of the corresponding sector have been disclosed; There is a large deviation in terms of disclosure rate among the CSR reports of CSI 100 components, with the highest being 85% and the lowest being 5%, that is, 1 material and quantitative indicator out of 20 has been disclosed;
• Extractive sector has a disclosure rate of over 60%, the highest among all the sectors in the research;
• Indicators of economic aspect have been disclosed the most while those of social aspect have been the least. For example, few companies disclosed the indicator of social aspect- “confirmed corruption cases and number of actions taken” -if applicable.

The research also found that CSI 100 components tend to disclose indicators that are positive and closely related to their business; however, they are less willing to disclose indicators with negative implications.

Based on the findings above, the research suggests that Chinese listed companies:

1. take a more active role in terms of reporting
2. select sector specific CSR reporting guidelines to better target material issues or indicators
3. use quantitative information to present or communicate CSR performance

To realize the goals above, companies shall establish data-collecting system that blends into its day-to-day business operation, improve data collection procedures and make better use of the data collected to facilitate information disclosure and CSR management.

 

For complete report, please click here (only Chinese Version)

Contact: Quqing Huang

Tel: 010-58699466 ext. 8032

Email: huangquqing@syntao.com