From 2014 onwards, HKQAA was appointed by Hang Seng Indexes Company Limited (Hang Seng Indexes) to provide the sustainability rating and research services for the Hang Seng Corporate Sustainability Index Series. When we first began the assessment exercise, “ESG” and “CSR” were only emerging as a topic in the corporate world. The market norm at that time largely reflected sporadic action and/or ad-hoc base ESG disclosure. The rating scale was therefore developed to describe the extent of the ESG efforts/disclosure by the assessed companies.

自2014年起，香港品质保证局受恒生指数有限公司（简称“恒生指数”）委托，为恒生可持续发展企业指数系列进行可持续发展评级与研究工作。当我们最初开始评估工作时，“环境、社会和公司治理(ESG)”和“企业社会责任(CSR)”才刚刚成为商界的一个话题。当时的市场在很大程度上反映了零星行动和/或不定期 ESG 披露。因此现行的评级着重于描述被评估公司实践 ESG的程度/披露的范围。

This year marks the 7^th annual assessment cycle. Unlike when we first started this exercise, “ESG” and “CSR” have gained major momentum in today’s business world. Many companies are now actively engaging in CSR activities and disclosing ESG performance in a more consistent manner. We believe the market is ready to transition towards a more wholistic approach to rating a company’s sustainability performance. Therefore, after a comprehensive review of the current rating scale, HKQAA decides to launch an update to the rating and rating description. The purpose of this update is to help investors and eligible companies to better understand their sustainability performance. The new rating scale aims to describe a company’s position along an ESG maturity model. Ultimately, the new rating and rating description seeks to describe features of an ideal “sustainable” company to drive for continuous improvement.

今年已经是本局执行评级工作的第 7 个年度,与我们刚开始这项工作时不同，“ESG”和“CSR”在当今的商业世界中获得了巨大的动力。许多公司现在都在积极参与企业社会责任活动，并以更加统一的方式披露 ESG 绩效。我们相信市场已准备好转向更全面的方法来评估公司的可持续发展绩效。因此，在全面检讨现行评级标准后，香港品质保证局决定对评级及评级描述进行更新。此更新的目的是为帮助投资者和合资格的公司更好地了解其可持续发展绩效。新评级注重于描述公司ESG相关风险管理的成熟程度。新的评级旨在描述一间理想的“可持续”公司的特征，以致達到推动持续改进的最終目的。

For details of the update, refer to the attached document.

有关更新的详细信息，请参阅随附的文件。

Should you have any enquiries, please contact srr@hkqaa.org.

如有任何查询，请联络srr@hkqaa.org。