On 6th and 7th of June, "The 2023 International Forum for China Impact Investing (IFCII)" (referred to "the Forum") was held in Shanghai with the theme of "Create  Synergies  through  Innovation". More than 70 guests expressed their suggestions on the future development path of China's impact investing through the interpretation of key words such as "innovation", "synergy" and "integration".

Guiyu Xiao, Vice Chairman and Deputy Secretary of Party Leadership Group, Shanghai Municipal Committee of the CPPCC, pointed out: "Our country puts trillions of RMB in green investments every year to facilitate environmental governance, energy conservation, emission reduction, the development of circular economy, and the equalization of basic public services in the rural revitalization strategy. In the context of this, advocating the concept of socially impact investment is crucial to achieving sustainable economic development."

Jizhe Ning, Vice Chairman of China Center for International Economic Exchanges (CCIEE), expressed in his speech that he hopes to use the concept of "sustainable impact investment" to explain the innovation of this field. "Firstly, sustainable impact investment is a future-oriented investment; secondly, sustainable impact investment needs integrated development. This concept includes five characteristics: 1. Practice is ahead of concept, 2. Government investment is ahead of enterprise investment, 3. International companies are ahead of Domestics, 4. Listed companies are ahead of non-listed companies, and 5. Green credit is ahead of other financial instruments."

Guangshao Tu, Executive Director of Shanghai Advanced Institute of Finance (SAIF), Shanghai Jiaotong University, emphasized the importance of practice based on concept promotion. "The basic orientation of our establishment of the IFCII is not only to promote the concept of impact investment but more importantly, to promote the practical actions of impact investment. We must focus on the infrastructures (including data systems, disclosure standards, evaluation systems, etc.), and also pay attention to the specific investment behavior of market players. These two reinforce each other, The infrastructure of impact investment, such as ratings and measurement, is the support for investment actions, and the actions of investors to practice impact investment can guide infrastructure construction."

Xiaoju Zhao, Chairman of Renda Foundation of Financial Inclusion, suggested in her speech:"in the future, through policy innovation, public welfare charitable funds should be able to participate in sustainable development-related projects; Take into account the expected investment goals of different fund providers, the management mode of project operation and the benefit distribution mechanism at the beginning of designing the program of Blended Finance. "

For impact investment to achieve local and international integration, it is imperative to establish a localized information disclosure and evaluation system, which has become an industry consensus.

Weiguo Zhang, Former Member of International Accounting Standards Board, said: “The governance goals, development stages and social conflicts of countries are different. At present, there is no universal standard system. This makes China highly flexible in the choice of standards. we can take what we like and use it for us.”

Jianqing Jiang, Former Chairman of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, said: "It is necessary to study and establish an objective and quantifiable ESG indicator system and evaluation method that is in line with China's development characteristics, and we cannot blindly copy international standards and rules, also cannot be divorced from the international development trend neither."

"While providing financial services, financial institutions should provide development support for rural people. The integration of financial services and development support can become a feature of rural small and medium-sized financial institutions." Said Xu Hu, Deputy Head of Research, Chinese Academy of Financial Inclusion (CAFI), during the report release section.

The Report proposes that building an organizational ecology of rural financial institutions with dislocated functions and complementary advantages to serve the endogenous development of rural areas should be a path worth exploring.

"From now on, every investor should be aware of the realization of the 'dual goals', that is, to achieve social goals while achieving commercial goals, has formed a new outlet, and we need to pay close attention to this outlet and seize the opportunity of its results. This is consistent with the connotation of high-quality economic development, 'dual carbon' goals, digital transformation, and rural revitalization strategies advocated and implemented by our country," said Duoguang Bei, president of CAFI.

In addition, experts from GSG, AVPN, World Bank, Ford Foundation and other international organizations also spoke at the forum.

Sir Ronald Cohen, President of GSG, released the Chinese version of his new book IMPACT at the forum and delivered a speech. He said: "I think young entrepreneurs are the ones who are leading impact revolution. And this impact revolution is being driven by three major forces. The first is a major change in values, there's been a massive change in financial markets as a result of a change in values. The second powerful force is the force of technology within every country in the world. The third major force is the force of transparency on the impact the companies create. if you take these three forces together at the turning point in business and in finance, a turning point that the humanity has never been that before, where each of you, through your ventures can both do good, and do well at the same time."

H.E. Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, Coordinating Minister of Maritime Affairs and Investment, Republic of Indonesia, said in his keynote speech: "The lessons from China's development can offer many lessons for the rest of the world. A study should be made on measuring against the principles on blended finance particularly in its eradication of poverty and through its support for innovation."

Tristan Ace, Chief Programme Officer of AVPN, said in a roundtable discussion on the theme "The Value of Blended Finance and Its Potential in China" : "there is a consensus in different countries，blended finance is a very practical path, which is equivalent to giving us practical financial tools to implement high-level initiatives."

Ford Foundation President Darren Walker is hopeful about the future of impact investing: "Impact investing in emerging markets has the potential to be unlocked, there's a new frontier of markets for global investment in the Global South and in Asia, where we're seeing persistent inequality and the potential for market growth. "

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