Post-Issuance Reporting in China’s Green Bond Market

The report finds that while China has a stringent regulatory framework for green bond reporting, actual post-issuance disclosure—particularly regarding environmental impacts—is lower than global averages. UoP reporting is more common than impact reporting, with financial institutions showing higher compliance due to stricter PBoC requirements. The study highlights a unique Chinese reliance on 'fossil fuel savings' as a metric and recommends shifting toward GHG and energy savings to align with international standards. While the quality of impact reporting among those who do report is generally high, the report notes significant inconsistencies across different bond types and regulatory bodies.

• Post-issuance reporting in China is generally good but lags behind global averages, particularly regarding environmental impacts. While 65% of issuers (74% by amount issued) provide UoP reporting, a much smaller share discloses impacts, and no issuers were found to report impacts without also reporting UoP.
• Financial institutions exhibit higher reporting rates and quality than non-financial corporates, largely because they are subject to more stringent PBoC and NAFMII regulations, including mandatory quarterly UoP reporting.
• China's regulatory framework for green bond disclosure is described as advanced but fragmented, suffering from inconsistencies in requirements across different bond types, incomplete frameworks for non-financial bonds, and inconsistent disclosure channels.
• Impact reporting in China is characterized by a high level of granularity for core metrics, specifically GHGs and pollutants, which are disaggregated into individual substances more frequently than in other global markets.
• A distinct characteristic of the Chinese market is the use of 'fossil fuel savings' (standard coal equivalent) as a primary impact metric, a practice not seen in the global study and one that the report suggests replacing with GHG or energy savings for better accuracy.
• Chinese issuers frequently provide cumulative impact data in their reports, a best practice that is rare in the rest of the world.
• Offshore bonds in China are less likely to report UoP than onshore bonds (53% vs 79% by amount) but are significantly more likely to report environmental impacts (50% vs 27% by amount), likely due to foreign investor expectations and listing requirements.
• The report identifies a gap between commitments made at issuance and actual post-issuance delivery, with only 38% of issuers (54% by amount) reporting in line with their initial plans.

APA

Almeida, M., Laqiqige, Z., Xie, W., Deng, M., & Shao, H. (2022). Post-Issuance Reporting in China’s Green Bond Market. Climate Bonds Initiative. https://www.climatebonds.net/files/documents/publications/post-issuance_reporting_in_chinas_green_bond_market_en.pdf

Chicago

Almeida, Miguel, Zhu Laqiqige, Wenhong Xie, Manshu Deng, and Huan Shao. Post-Issuance Reporting in China’s Green Bond Market. Climate Bonds Initiative, 2022. https://www.climatebonds.net/files/documents/publications/post-issuance_reporting_in_chinas_green_bond_market_en.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Almeida |first1=Miguel |last2=Laqiqige |first2=Zhu |last3=Xie |first3=Wenhong |last4=Deng |first4=Manshu |last5=Shao |first5=Huan |title=Post-Issuance Reporting in China’s Green Bond Market |publisher=Climate Bonds Initiative |date=April 2022 |url=https://www.climatebonds.net/files/documents/publications/post-issuance_reporting_in_chinas_green_bond_market_en.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{almeida2022postissuance, author = {Almeida, Miguel and Laqiqige, Zhu and Xie, Wenhong and Deng, Manshu and Shao, Huan}, title = {{Post-Issuance Reporting in China’s Green Bond Market}}, institution = {Climate Bonds Initiative}, year = {2022}, month = apr, url = {https://www.climatebonds.net/files/documents/publications/post-issuance_reporting_in_chinas_green_bond_market_en.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }