China Archives - Sustainable Value Investors

Companies, Corporate Governance, Financial Institutions / 18.12.2020

Index providers drop Chinese companies that have been labeled by the U.S. government as having ties to the Chinese military

MSCI, along with other predominant index providers, drops seven Chinese companies that have been labeled by the U.S. government as having ties to the Chinese military. Will this decision impede the international inflow of capital to China? What strategic importance does such a removal entail?...

Companies, Corporate Governance / 03.12.2020

Is China investing in Corporate Governance? And what about gender diversity?

Is the concept of corporate governance gaining relevance in China and which are the main constraints to its development? Despite the rapid economic growth in recent years, the institution of corporate governance in China is far from mature. Best practices in corporate governance as well...

Climate change / 09.11.2020

Will China achieve its zero-emission target？

President Xi brought forth an ambitious goal of reaching peak carbon emissions by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2060. The goal is regarded not just as a de-carbonization goal but also as a driving force to facilitate socio-economic progress. Various strategies were introduced for this...

Climate change / 06.11.2020

The US has left the Paris Climate Agreement, while other countries have strengthened their commitments

On November 4th, a day after Election day, the US has officially withdrawn from the Paris Climate Agreement, as promised by President Trump since the beginning of its mandate. This act comes after the Trump administration has rolled back nearly 100 environmental commitments and regulations...

Companies, Corporate Governance, Financial Institutions / 05.11.2020

Suspension of the world’s largest IPO: what’s at stake with Ant Group’s listing

The world's largest IPO, the listing of Ant Group, has been suspended last-minute. The Shanghai Stock Exchange announced the suspension claiming the Group has failed to meet the issuance and listing conditions or information disclosure requirements. However, is this the full story? [caption id="attachment_3850" align="aligncenter" width="1024"]...

Companies, Corporate Governance, Economics, Financial Institutions / 14.10.2020

China is opening to Wall Street and its European counterparts: which are the major challenges?

As the China-US trade war drags along with increasing Sino-American tensions, China has not ceased opening up various markets. Why is the opening of the financial industry in China important for foreign players? Is the liberalization a concession made by China in the trade war...

Climate change, Companies / 01.10.2020

Accelerating Net Zero Carbon Emissions and the risk of cheap talks

More and more companies, cities, regions, countries are committing to becoming carbon neutral, i.e. to balance out the sum of all greenhouse gases put into and taken out of the atmosphere. More companies than ever committed to ambitious climate action at the Climate Week in...

ESG, Food and beverage / 18.09.2020

Bottled water in China: Nongfu IPO success, but what about its sustainability from an ESG perspective?

The IPO of Nongfu Spring, a bottled water brand in mainland China, broke the record of the subscription capital of HKEX on September 8, 2020: it was 1,147 times oversubscribed by more than 700 thousand investors. The listing made the owner of the brand, Zhong...

Financial Institutions, Infrastructure, Oil and Gas / 08.09.2020

Pakistani army to sideline Islamabad over China’s $62bn infrastructural project

China is pressuring the Pakistani army to impose a hybrid martial law to speed up the pace of Beijing's Belt and Road Initiative in the country. Will workers' democratic rights of strike, freedom of association, and collective bargain be safe? Pakistani military seeks greater control over...

Companies, Coronavirus, Corporate Governance, Fashion, Tech / 21.07.2020

International supply chains have been linked to Uighurs forced labor and human rights violation

Suppliers of international tech and fashion companies, such as Apple, Nike and Calvin Klein, have been exploiting forced labor from ethnic minority groups, mostly Uighurs, detained in the Xinjiang region, China. Organizations have already started to take action. Several investigations carried out in the last year by The...

Climate change, Oil and Gas / 17.05.2020

Fossil fuel reserves: the high cost of stranded assets

What are the implications of climate change mitigation on the market value of coal, oil and gas companies? To assess how much market value these companies might lose as governments are increasingly eager to impose stricter measures on the hydrocarbon industry, analysts must consider the reserves...

Corporate Governance / 16.12.2019

Apple shareholders to discuss human rights policies at 2020 annual meeting

Next year at Apple’ s annual meeting, shareholders will vote a non-binding resolution for transparency over human rights policies. On 9 September 2019, SumOfUs, a consumer advocacy group, submitted the proposal claiming that the US tech company had limited individual freedom of expression kowtowing to China's will, which...

Climate change / 12.12.2019

A global political impasse threatens both negotiations at COP25 and the EU’s Green Deal

Millions of people are taking into the streets in an effort to save the planet. Despite that, public mobilisation has had very little impact on governments’ leaders so far. Talks between world's leaders have not evolved into actions as people wish, and the...

Stock Exchanges / 08.10.2019

Hong Kong Stock Exchange drops its bid for the London Stock Exchange

As of October 8, 2019 Hong Kong Stock Exchange announced the drop of its £32 bn bid to acquire the London Stock Exchange. For further information, see the following links: https://www.hkexgroup.com/-/media/HKEX-Group-Site/ccd/Possible-Offer/28-Announcement--HK-cover-ENGcombined.pdf https://www.theguardian.com/business/2019/oct/08/hong-kong-bid-london-stock-exchange-lse https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/08/hong-kong-exchange-drops-its-39-billion-bid-to-buy-the-london-stock-exchange.html https://www.ft.com/content/ccb827ce-e95f-11e9-a240-3b065ef5fc55 ...