At the 2026 Sustainable Global Leaders Conference held from October 20 to 22 at the Huangpu Expo Park in Shanghai, PICC Group (ASX: 01339) President Zhao Peng attended and delivered a speech.
Zhao Peng stated that the concept of sustainable development is currently accelerating from conceptual consensus into market practice, and many emerging green business formats are still in a stage of rapid growth and iteration, requiring both support from basic financial elements and full-cycle financial services to escort and protect them. As an important component of the modern financial system, insurance combines risk management functions with the advantage of long-term capital supply, and bears a unique functional role in serving green industries.
Zhao Peng further explained that, on one hand, insurance mechanisms can effectively hedge various risks in green industries such as construction and operation, technological iteration, and income fluctuation, as well as the uncertainty of operating business models. On the other hand, relying on long-duration, large-scale insurance long-term capital, the industry can provide long-term stable patient capital for green industries. "Based on this functional positioning, the insurance industry should better serve the green transformation of the economy and society, further leverage its role as an economic shock absorber and social stabilizer, anchor the task of doing a good job in the major article of green finance, and strive to become a guardian of green transformation, an enabler of green industries, and a partner of green governance," Zhao Peng emphasized.
First, being a good green guardian and building a solid risk barrier for green development. Zhao Peng pointed out that the key to accelerating the green development of the economy lies in advancing energy production and consumption methods toward green and changing mindsets accordingly. PICC has focused on both the supply side and the consumption side of green energy, continuously improving product and service supply, and extensively building a green industry protection network. "From the supply-side protection perspective, we focus on clean energy fields such as wind power, photovoltaics, hydropower and nuclear power, and have innovatively launched multiple nationwide first-of-their-kind products including power generation loss insurance, energy storage quality and efficiency insurance, and electricity sales credit compensation insurance, striving to remove pain points in industry development. We served as the lead underwriter for a batch of national-level major energy projects such as the Baihetan Hydropower Station and the Hualong One nuclear power plant, fully leveraging the industry's role as a 'leading goose.' From the consumption-side protection perspective, we focus on the transformation of the energy consumption structure and vigorously develop new energy vehicle insurance. In the first half of this year, the number of new energy vehicles underwritten by PICC increased by 30.9% year on year. We continue to promote the overseas expansion of new energy vehicle insurance projects. After Hong Kong and Thailand, we recently successfully landed a Chinese-funded new energy vehicle insurance project in Germany, using professional services to support the coordinated development of cross-border green industries. In the first half of 2026, the group's green insurance risk protection amount reached 132 trillion yuan, and industry protection strength has continued to increase," Zhao Peng said.
Second, being a good green enabler and empowering green growth with long-term capital. Zhao Peng stated that PICC actively explores green investment paths with insurance characteristics, establishes and improves the group's green finance ESG investment management system, and continuously guides funds toward pure green areas such as green manufacturing, green consumption and green trade. It has successively implemented multiple green investment projects including the State Grid Xinyuan equity investment plan and the China Power Fujian clean energy infrastructure asset support plan, successfully issued the industry's first dual-carbon-themed asset management product, and innovatively created new financing credit enhancement models such as green loan insurance and carbon loan insurance, effectively alleviating the difficulty and high cost of financing for green enterprises. In the first half of this year, the group's green investment scale increased by 37.2% compared with the beginning of the year, and support for investment in green and low-carbon fields has continued to strengthen.
Third, being a good partner of green development and continuously improving the level of sustainable governance. Zhao Peng stated that the development of green finance requires financial institutions to strengthen their own ESG governance and enhance their level of sustainable development. PICC fully embeds the concept of sustainable development into the entire chain of corporate governance and business management, solidly carries out ESG management and information disclosure, and addresses frontier work such as climate change. It has built a unified group-level green insurance statistical system and a customer ESG risk assessment system, completed the first round of group-wide, full-caliber carbon emission accounting, focused on green insurance carbon emission statistical measurement, and compiled and released the domestic insurance industry's first green insurance environmental benefit measurement methodology, providing a PICC solution for the formulation of industry green insurance standards. Zhao Peng emphasized that PICC will stay true to the original aspiration of a central financial SOE and remain committed to being a guardian, enabler and partner of green development. "We will further practice the concept of green development, strengthen data governance, explore carbon finance innovation, scientifically set energy-saving and carbon-reduction targets, and use our own high-quality development to help the comprehensive green transformation of the economy and society. We will further deepen the supply of green finance, accelerate the construction of a green insurance product and service system covering all fields, the full cycle and the entire chain, continuously expand green investment methods and areas, and provide more solid protection for the construction of a new energy system and the transformation of traditional energy enterprises. We will further deepen international exchanges and cooperation, coordinate forces from all parties to continuously explore innovative practices in green finance, and together with global financial peers, make new and greater contributions to promoting sustainable development and building a community with a shared future for mankind," Zhao Peng said.
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