On the 13th January 2025, China’s Ministry of Finance announced 69 mutually beneficial outcomes of the 11th China-UK Economic and Financial Dialogue held in Beijing. In the fields of green finance and biodiversity finance, three related achievements of Bank of China, actively supported by Bank of China London Branch, have been included in the outcomes document, leading industry peers.
"Both sides welcome Bank of China London Branch’s intention to issue new dual currency sustainability related bonds in 2025, to be denominated in RMB and GBP and listed in London."
In 2016, Bank of China London Branch issued the first China Green Covered Bond worth $500 million on the London Stock Exchange. In 2021, Bank of China listed six sustainable bonds on the London Stock Exchange, totaling $2.2 billion. And in 2023, the Bank successfully issued a three-year $600 million overseas green bond, with all proceeds dedicated to supporting green credit projects in the UK, France, and the Netherlands, providing continuous momentum for the green and low-carbon transition.
"The UK welcomes efforts by Bank of China to develop its role in green and biodiversity finance, recognizing this via the signing of a refreshed MoU between the UK government and Bank of China in September 2024. This includes: the issuance of sustainable bonds and continued product innovation; a program of training and activities on green finance capacity building; and developing cooperation on biodiversity finance."
In recent years, Bank of China and the UK government have deepened cooperation in green finance with significant results. These include listing six sustainable bonds worth $2.2 billion on the London Stock Exchange, serving as a Steering Committee member of the China-UK Green Finance Working Group, and publishing the Bank of China 2022 Green Finance (TCFD) Report. In 2024, Bank of China renewed the Memorandum of Understanding on Green and Biodiversity Finance Cooperation with the UK government. Both sides remain committed to jointly promoting the implementation of the UN’s Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, further advancing China-UK green finance cooperation.
"The UK and China welcome the work of the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) and encourage leading international sustainability standard setters to incorporate the risk management and disclosure framework of the TNFD. Both sides welcome Bank of China becoming a member of TNFD."
Bank of China is the first Chinese financial institution to join TNFD. As an international market-leading initiative, TNFD will provide Bank of China with a platform and support for frontier research, capacity-building, standard-setting, and information disclosure in financial support for nature and biodiversity. Based on its extensive experience in this field, Bank of China will continue to provide expert opinions and design suggestions for the TNFD framework, guidance documents, planning, and capacity-building efforts.
Guided by the key consensus reached by the leaders of China and the UK, Bank of China will continue to support the implementation of the outcomes of the 11th China-UK Economic and Financial Dialogue. Leveraging its global reach and comprehensive financial capabilities, Bank of China will continue to innovate green finance products, optimise green finance services, and promote further progress in practical China-UK cooperation.
