Over 300 companies have achieved a B-level or higher in corporate social responsibility information disclosure.

　　To comprehensively evaluate and reflect the current status of social responsibility information disclosure by Chinese listed companies, a research team established by the China Listed Companies Association and the China Listed Companies Social Responsibility Research Center of the Securities Times has developed the “China Listed Companies Social Responsibility Information Disclosure Evaluation Model.” This model conducts a comprehensive assessment of the level of social responsibility information disclosure by listed companies that released social responsibility reports during the 2014 annual report period, drawing on data from both corporate social responsibility reports and official company websites.

　　In this year’s report, we found many “firsts” compared to previous years:

　　1. As of April 30 of this year, the number of listed companies that have released their 2014 Corporate Social Responsibility Reports has exceeded 700 for the first time.

　　2. The overall quality of social responsibility information disclosure by SME and Growth Enterprise Market listed companies in the Shenzhen Stock Exchange has significantly improved. Many companies listed on the SME Board and the ChiNext Board have now reached a level of social responsibility disclosure comparable to that of main-board companies.

　　3. The overall quality of social responsibility reports from listed companies in the water conservancy, environmental, and public facilities management industries has ranked first among all industries.

　　4. For the first time, a listed company has achieved a perfect score on its corporate social responsibility report, such as Shenzhen Tianma A.

　　5. Companies on the ChiNext board have, for the first time, achieved an A-level rating in social responsibility information disclosure, such as Silbao Technology.

　　The “Research Report on Social Responsibility Information Disclosure by Chinese Listed Companies (2015)” shows that this year, 305 companies achieved a comprehensive score above Grade B (60 points or higher), accounting for 43% of the total number of companies that released reports. Among these, 27 companies reached Grade A (80 points or higher), representing a significant improvement compared to the same period last year.

　　The top ten companies, in order, are: Shenzhen Tianma A, Tai Steel Stainless, CIMC Group, Jiangling Motors, Sanyuan Shares, China Tianying, Siliconbao Technology, Qizheng Tibetan Medicine, Jinzhengda, and China Construction.

　　Information Disclosure

　　The overall score has improved significantly.

　　In 2015, the distribution of comprehensive evaluation scores for social responsibility information disclosure among Chinese A-share listed companies was close to a negatively skewed distribution. Among them, 27 companies achieved an A-level rating, 278 companies received a B-level rating, 345 companies were rated C, 46 companies were rated D, and 2 companies were rated E.

　　As shown in Figure 1, the comprehensive scores for social responsibility information disclosure by listed companies are concentrated between 40 and 75 points, with a peak occurring between 55 and 50. The leftward deviation from the mean indicates that although the level of social responsibility information disclosure by listed companies in 2015 was still not ideal, there has been a noticeable improvement compared to the same period last year.

　　Finance, wholesale and retail, construction,

　　Manufacturing and 3 other industries rank at the top.

　　Similar to the situation in the previous year, the level of social responsibility information disclosure varies significantly among listed companies across different industries, yet the level of social responsibility reporting has improved to varying degrees across all industries.

　　Overall, listed companies in the financial industry, wholesale and retail trade, construction, and manufacturing sectors demonstrate relatively high levels of corporate social responsibility (CSR) information disclosure. In contrast, listed companies in the information transmission, software, and information technology services sector, as well as those in the agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry, and fishery industries, still exhibit relatively low levels of CSR information disclosure.

　　Shenzhen Stock Exchange company

　　Overall performance is excellent.

　　Figure 2 shows that the proportion of Shenzhen-listed companies classified as Grade A and Grade B is higher than that of Shanghai-listed companies, with the absolute number of Grade A companies in Shenzhen significantly exceeding that in Shanghai. Comparing this with last year’s situation regarding social responsibility among Shanghai-listed companies, we can see that in 2015, the level of social responsibility information disclosure by Shenzhen-listed companies improved markedly. Although the absolute number of reports issued by Shanghai-listed companies exceeds that of Shenzhen-listed companies, the quality of these reports falls short of Shenzhen’s standards. On the other hand, although Shenzhen-listed companies predominantly include smaller firms from the SME Board and the ChiNext Board, their level of social responsibility information disclosure has already reached a level comparable to that of main-board companies.

　　Listed company on the main board

　　Still taking the lead.

　　As shown in Figure 3, looking at this year alone, among companies listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange’s main board, 158 have achieved a B-level score (60 points or above), accounting for 37.98%; on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange’s main board, 80 companies have reached this level, representing 61.07%; on the SME board, 56 companies have done so, accounting for 44.8%; and on the ChiNext board, 11 companies have reached the threshold, making up 34.38%. It is evident that, in terms of sheer numbers, main-board listed companies still lead by a wide margin—especially on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange’s main board, where nearly 60% of companies have already surpassed the passing mark.

　　Reporting media: Securities Times

　　Website link: http://epaper.stcn.com/paper/zqsb/html/2015-09/23/content_734556.htm