中金：ESG视角看央国企价值重塑

摘要

1. 央国企价值重塑中的ESG因素：央国企经营指标升级助力ESG内外驱动

央国企高质量发展的演变：2022年以来，国家层面要求央国企在经营活动中“坚持价值创造与价值实现兼顾”、“聚焦共建共享开展价值创造”。在新发展理念及国企深化改革政策的引领下，国有企业通过提升公司治理水平，积极承担环境、社会责任，有助于实现高质量发展和价值重塑。

央国企经营指标体系升级：为提升央国企经营效率，国资委自2020年起陆续提出“两利三率”（2020年）、“两利四率”（2021年）和“一利五率”（2023年）的经营指标，通过市场化、数量化的目标设定激励央国企实现价值创造。

ESG对央国企价值提升的驱动途径：较好的ESG水平能够提升经济增加值（EVA），从外部和内部竞争力两方面影响企业估值。中金ESG评级数据显示，央国企的ESG平均表现优于非央国企，特别是社会和治理支柱。然而央国企的估值多数情况下处于同行业较低水平。在央国企子样本内部，ESG表现与评价指标（如市净率、ROE、营业现金率）呈正向关系。我们认为，提升ESG信息披露，社会责任和内部治理，以及创新研发会为央国企带来新的价值增长机会。

2. 社会价值创造对央国企价值的影响机制

福利性、战略性社会责任与经营目标协调发展：央国企长期承担着超越经营业务的社会责任。福利性社会责任体现在央国企为保障社会民生、促进区域经济发展等发挥的重要作用。战略性社会责任体现在央国企为实现国家长远发展目标，进入高端产业链环节，追求技术的先进性；通过非市场化定价方式配置资源，推行部分产业优先发展战略。央国企在前期通常面临短期经济效益的压力，但长期有助于推动高端产业崛起和国家产业结构调节。随着国企改革的推进，央国企正逐步优化经济布局和结构，寻找主业与社会责任相互协同的机制，协调盈利目标和社会发展目标。中国数字化转型网www.szhzxw.cn

3. 公司治理对央国企价值的影响机制

治理重塑央国企价值的基本途径： 央国企可以通过优化治理制度、提升股权激励、加强信息披露与投资者沟通实现治理价值重塑。中金ESG评级结果显示，央国企的公司治理得分平均优于非央国企，治理得分较高的央国企ROE表现更好。在治理制度方面，央国企应增加独立董事比例、优化管理层参与治理，建立专门的ESG治理架构。在股东回报和股权激励方面，央国企应稳固高股息率，通过长期高质量发展将优势转移到估值定价，提升企业长期利益发展。在信息披露方面，央国企应加强信息披露透明度和数据质量。

4. 绿色转型对央国企价值的影响机制

外部要求与内在动力：央国企面临着响应双碳政策和保障能源安全的外部要求，需要通过节能降碳、提高能效、推进清洁安全生产等措施实现绿色低碳发展示范作用。央国企的碳排放强度整体呈下降趋势但仍高于非央国企，需要在控制碳排放的同时确保能源供应。央国企通过内在驱动降低风险和成本，促进收入结构多元化。一方面，央国企可以通过优化能源和碳管理，降低生产和原料成本，实现降本增效。央国企还需提高对气候转型风险的表现，保护资产和利益，适应低碳经济的需求。另一方面，可以通过开发绿色产业为企业带来绿色收入新的增长点。中国数字化转型网www.szhzxw.cn

一、央国企价值重塑中的ESG因素

1. 央国企高质量发展的演变历程

近年来，我国从单一的经济总量增速目标、效率目标转向多元化、可持续的发展目标，“创新、协调、绿色、开放、共享”的新发展理念正在全面引领我国经济发展的变革。实现高质量发展，就是以更长远地眼光看待经济结构和经济目标，是在尊重经济规律的基础上，提升中国经济的可持续发展能力。

图表1：新发展理念的演变

资料来源：中国政府网，中金公司研究部

2022年以来，国家各部委高度重视国有企业的高质量发展，一方面持续提升国有企业的创新能力和市场竞争力，另一方面则是通过由内而外的内部治理、对外沟通来提升海内外资本市场对国有企业价值的认可度，“构建中国特色估值体系”的概念被提出。

2022年5月，国务院国资委在《提高央企控股上市公司质量工作方案》中提到，要“坚持价值创造与价值实现兼顾[1]。”由此可见，对于国有企业的经营理念不但要为国家战略和社会提供价值，还要让资本市场参与者认同国有企业的价值创造，实现市值的增长。

此后，国家决策层面以及金融市场监管部门、证券交易所陆续对国有企业的信息内外沟通、财务目标、企业治理提升、研发投入、产业布局、社会价值创造等层面提供指引、并提出了具体的要求。

其中，国务院国资委《关于开展对标世界一流企业价值创造行动的通知》中提出，国有企业需要“聚焦共建共享开展价值创造”与ESG框架中的环境、社会目标相契合。从环境层面，“加快绿色低碳转型，全面提高能源资源利用效率和清洁生产水平，带头落实‘双碳’目标。”从社会层面，“统筹股东、员工、客户、供应商、社会等相关方利益，形成互利共赢、和谐发展的良好生态，为经济社会发展创造价值，为促进共同富裕贡献力量。” [2]中国数字化转型网www.szhzxw.cn

图表2：重要会议中关于国有企业发展、中国特色估值体系的相关政策：新发展理念的演变

资料来源：《探索中国特色估值体系（4）：挖掘优质低估值上市国央企》（李求索，黄凯松，2023.05.21），证监会，国务院国资委，上交所，深交所，中金公司研究部

2023年2月[3]，国资委明确深入实施新一轮国企改革深化提升行动的三个方向：1）加快优化国有经济布局结构，增强服务国家战略的功能作用；2）加快完善中国特色国有企业现代公司治理，真正按市场化机制运营；3）加快健全有利于国有企业科技创新的体制机制，加快打造创新型国有企业。

由此可见，国有企业高质量发展、中国特色估值体系，以及背后蕴含ESG的相关理念，三者之间形成一定的关联和互补，国有上市企业ESG因素的管理、披露和持续提升能对国有上市企业的估值形成正向作用。

图表3：ESG与新发展理念、中国特色估值体系的相关表述与关联

资料来源：国务院国资委，光明网，中金公司研究部

2. 中央企业经营指标体系升级与对比

近年来，为了国有企业的活力、提升效率、深入推进国有企业市场化改革，国务院国资委建立了中央企业经营指标体系：中国数字化转型网www.szhzxw.cn

► 2020年，《国企改革三年行动方案（2020-2022年）》正式出台，首次形成“两利三率”指标体系，包括净利润、利润总额、营业收入利润率、资产负债率和研发经费投入强度。

► 2021年，增加了“全员劳动生产率”指标，提升为“两利四率”，引导中央企业提高生产效率。近几年 “两利四率”指标体系在引导和促进中央企业改革与发展方面取得了明显成效。

► 2023年1月，新一轮国企改革开启，国资委于召开中央企业负责人会议，会议进一步优化中央企业经营指标体系为“一利五率”，目标为“一增、一稳、四提升” ，并对“两利四率”的指标进行了相应调整：

用净资产收益率（ROE）替换净利润，反映了国企的价值创造能力，更注重产出效率，更适应资本市场的评价标准；用营业现金比率替换营业收入利润率，更关注现金流安全与可持续投资能力的提升。研发创新，劳动力配置效率和人力资本水平也是经营体系指标的关注重点。

本报告之后的部分，我们会进一步分析环境、社会和治理议题与上述经营指标的逻辑联系和以及其重塑央国企价值的影响途径。

图表4：近年央国企经营指标体系的变化

资料来源：国资委，中金公司研究部

3. ESG对央国企价值提升的驱动途径

(1) ESG影响央国企估值的内外部性

我们在报告《ESG整合在基本面估值分析中的应用》中提到，企业的ESG表现能够从外部竞争优势和内部竞争力两个方面影响企业未来的经济增加值（EVA）。2009年12月，国务院国资委发布了《中央企业负责人经营业绩考核暂行办法》，其中就提出了使用EVA对中央企业的经营绩效进行考核并发布了《经济增加值考核细则》的具体计算方法。因此，EVA指标和企业的ESG表现天然形成了关联，具体来看：

► 从外部竞争（增量外部性）层面，国有企业承担了保障民生，服务国家战略的重要角色。对于承担社会责任，响应“双碳”目标，保障下游产品与服务安全等方面更加积极，因此国有企业在环境、社会层面等外部性层面较好的表现使得国有企业具备相对优势；中国数字化转型网www.szhzxw.cn

► 从内部竞争（自身产能治理）层面，国有企业多数已经强制要求构建自上而下的ESG管理体系，并且积极相应国家“稳就业”的倡议，因此国有企业在治理以及社会责任层面较好的表现使得国有企业在产能方面具备相对优势。

图表5：ESG整合方法融入EVA模型原理示意图

资料来源：《ESG整合在基本面估值分析中的应用》（周萧潇，金成等，2023.04.06），SASB，中金公司研究部

► 央国企ESG表现优于非央国企：中金ESG评级的数据分布显示，国有企业的平均ESG得分相比其他类型企业更高，特别是中央国有企业在社会支柱和治理支柱的平均ESG水平显著高于其他性质的上市公司。自2020年以来，中央和地方国有企业的ESG综合得分的平均值一直优于非央国企，ESG表现而言央国企具备较为明显的优势。

► 央国企的内外部优势未反映到估值：从估值层面来看，多数国央企上市公司处于同行业较低估值的水平，多数行业央国企相比非央国企的折价幅度较大。其中，央国企占比较大的汽车，建筑，钢铁，石油石化，交通运输等传统行业估值折价较为明显。中国数字化转型网www.szhzxw.cn

图表6：不同性质企业ESG得分情况

注：统计数据为2023年3月31日，样本来自中证800与中证1000成分股

资料来源：中金公司研究部

图表7：央国企与非央国企ESG得分逐年变化情况

注：统计区间从2020年3月31日至2023年3月31日

资料来源：中金公司研究部

图表8：央企分行业估值对比

注：截至2023年2月28日

资料来源：《探索中国特色估值体系(2)：国企低估值的解析与优化》（李求索，黄凯松等，2023.03.19），Wind，中金公司研究部

图表9：多数行业的央国企相比非央国企的折价幅度较大

注：截至2023年2月28日

资料来源：《探索中国特色估值体系(2)：国企低估值的解析与优化》（李求索，黄凯松等，2023.03.19），Wind，中金公司研究部

► 央国企ESG表现与考核指标的正向联系：为了进一步了解央国企ESG表现与价值的关系，我们选取中证800与中证1000成分股（以下简称“中证1800”），分别分析其中央国企的ESG得分与其估值（市净率）变化率以及新增的“一利五率”经营考核指标（ROE，营业现金比率）的关系。

结果发现，过去三年国企改革以来，除了能源危机时期出现的波动，ESG得分整体较高的央国企相较于ESG得分较低的央国企在未来6个月的市净率变化率、净资产收益率以及营业现金率均存在一定优势。

图表10：央国企ESG得分情况与未来6个月市净率变化率的对比

注：纵轴计算公式为6个月后的平均市净率相较当期平均市净率的变化率

资料来源：Wind，中金公司研究部

图表11：央国企ESG得分前后25%分组ROE（%）对比

资料来源：Wind, 中金公司研究部

图表12：央国企治理得分前后25%分组现金率（%）对比

资料来源：Wind, 中金公司研究部

(2) 信息披露、社会责任及治理、创新研发带来估值提升空间

随着央国企价值重塑受市场认可度的逐步提升，中国特色估值体系下的央国企所蕴含的绿色溢价和社会责任资本价值的外部性将会逐渐内化成为市场价值，央国企上市公司的ESG表现将会成为影响企业价值的驱动因素。我们认为ESG驱动央国企价值重塑存在以下途径：

► ESG信息披露降低投资者信息不对称

《ESG整合在基本面估值分析中的应用》[4]报告中提到，ESG通过财务重要性特征对企业的基本面表现产生实质性影响，企业披露的ESG数据可以纳入风险管理和估值模型中，帮助投资者更好的识别和管理ESG带来的相关财务风险，作为基本面数据之外的有效增量信息。中国数字化转型网www.szhzxw.cn

我们对中证800与中证1000的成分股公司披露的ESG信息进行统计归纳发现，对于ESG重要性议题的披露情况，过去三年央国企和非央国企在大部分ESG二级议题的数据覆盖率都呈逐年增加趋势，且央国企上市公司在多数ESG议题的披露率超过了非央国企上市公司，这使得海内外ESG投资者能够采集到可信的数据并使用整合方法将相应的ESG指标融入基本面研究中去，同时降低了投资者对于央国企信息获取的不对称问题。

图表13：央国企和非央国企的ESG议题披露情况

注：统计数据截至到2023年6月30日前发布的公司ESG报告情况

资料来源：MioTech，中金公司研究部

► 社会责任及内部治理推升央国企价值的成长性

ESG体系中，社会支柱下的劳动关系管理水平、员工培训与发展的重视程度与企业的生产力先进程度呈现高度的正相关关系。改善激励机制，增加股权激励规模和数量也是内部治理提升员工积极性和企业价值的重要手段。通常重视技术类、科研类员工薪酬、福利、培训和继续发展的企业能减少关键技术人员的流动性，形成高效的内部沟通效率与生产效率。

根据我们的分析，中证800与中证1000的成分股中的央国企相较非央国企的劳动关系管理有着明显优势。而对于股权激励规模和数量，央国企仍存在明显差距，但已经初步呈现增长趋势，是未来央国企提升自身估值价值的潜在提升点之一。中国数字化转型网www.szhzxw.cn

图表14：央国企与非央国企“劳动关系管理”得分

注：劳动关系管理得分主要包含雇佣政策，福利管理，争议事件等，具体请参阅《中金ESG手册》系列报告 

资料来源：中金公司研究部

图表15：央企及地方国企股权激励规模及案例数量低于非国有企业

资料来源：《探索中国特色估值体系(2)：国企低估值的解析与优化》（李求索，黄凯松等，2023.03.19），Wind，中金公司研究部

► 创新研发带来新的价值增长机会

央国企服务于国家战略，通过关注“战略性新兴行业”带来的潜在机遇，积极响应提高创新研发投入，可以促进央国企创新业务发展，带来新的业务增长点，修复估值。如绿色发展与碳中和、数字经济和产业链安全等。

目前来看，央国企平均的研发人员占比、研发费用率与非央国企相比较低，但自三年国企改革行动提出之后，整体出现缓慢上升的趋势。在央国企高质量发展的背景下，存在较大的提升空间。研发投入强度作为央国企经营考核指标之一，随着国企改革的进一步深化，发展创新研发将有效推动央国企估值提升。

图表16：央国企与非央国企研发人员占比

资料来源：Wind，中金公司研究部

图表17：央国企与非央国企研发费用率

资料来源：Wind，中金公司研究部

在本报告接下来的部分，我们将从社会、治理、环境三个方面出发，分析ESG因素对央国企价值重塑的具体影响机制。中国数字化转型网www.szhzxw.cn

二、社会价值创造对央国企价值的影响机制

1. 福利性社会责任与战略性社会责任

央国企广泛分布在涉及国计民生、国防安全等基础性行业。[5]央国企在我国承担了两类社会责任：

► 福利性社会责任：主要体现在执行宏观逆周期调控任务，在涉及保障国计民生、维护经济稳定等社会责任的承担上做出贡献。

► 战略性社会责任：央国企在我国现代化产业体系建设中承担了战略性创新任务，在自身经营发展之外，承担着经济稳定、产业升级发展等重任，是我国经济高质量的重要经济主体。

图表18：中证800和中证1000成分股中Wind一级行业不同所有制企业市值规模

注：数据时点为2023年3月31日

资料来源：iFinD，中金公司研究部

（1）福利性社会责任

福利性社会责任一般指央国企为了保障国计民生而承担的责任。主要分为公益性价格补贴、社会稳定性就业和社会公益投资三大类：

► 公益性价格补贴：国有企业在某些关键行业或领域，如能源、交通等，为了保障公众的基本生活需求，将产品或服务的价格设定在低于市场水平的位置。这种行为实际上是一种形式的价格补贴，旨在保障公众的基本生活需求和社会稳定。

► 社会稳定性就业：国有企业在经营过程中需要配合政府保障居民就业，并且为了保障社会稳定，国有企业比较难以根据实际经营需要调整人员数量。除了就业数量以外，国有企业通常会提供更全面的福利待遇，包括医疗保险、退休金、住房补贴等。这些福利待遇对于提高员工的生活质量和保障员工的生活稳定性有着重要作用。中国数字化转型网www.szhzxw.cn

► 社会公益性投资：国有企业在进行某些项目投资时并不直接追求经济回报，而是基于提升当地居民生活水平、促进区域经济发展等目标而做出的决策。在“乡村振兴”和“共同富裕”的号召下，国有企业主动将业务扩展至偏远、贫穷地区以推动当地经济发展。

图表19：央企、国企承担来自政府的福利性社会责任

资料来源：中金公司研究部

央国企的三类福利性社会责任相互联系、互为支撑，社会稳定性就业和社会公益性投资作为经济压舱石和高质量发展的重要支撑，也将成为央国企盈利中枢抬升的主要驱动力之一。目前，央国企主营的通信、交通、电力等要素价格远低于国际平均水平，主要原因是我国人均收入和消费水平尚不足以支撑要素价格全面上涨。因此，以央国企为核心的企业大力投入“乡村振兴”与“共同富裕”战略，旨在发挥体制优势，解决我国经济发展区域不均衡、城乡收入差距大等问题，全面提升我国人均收入水平。随着人均可支配收入的逐渐抬升，央国企所掌握的要素价格将逐步具备上升空间，届时企业将直接受益于由此带来的盈利中枢抬升。中国数字化转型网www.szhzxw.cn

央国企创造了大量的社会价值，以通信为例，我国电信运营商响应国家“提速降费”号召，大幅下调通信资费，同时积极响应“乡村振兴”与“共同富裕”号召，推进电信普惠工程，提升乡村信息基础设施服务能力，目前我国行政村4G网络覆盖率已超99%[6]。同时，我国上网价格便宜具备较大优势。数据显示，中国1GB流量费用仅0.4美元[7]，处于世界最低水平区间。完善的基础通信设施建设和低廉的价格不仅保障了民众享受信息服务的权力，同时也助力互联网生态圈的发展和扩大，促进了国家经济发展。

图表20：2022年各国1GB流量费用对比

资料来源：Cable.co.uk，中金公司研究部

在能源行业，我国电费价格低廉稳定，覆盖全面，不仅保障了民众生活的基本用电需求，也为产业健康发展奠定基础。数据显示，2022年中国家庭用电价格仅0.08美元/千瓦时[8]，远低于其他国家。根据央企经济运行新闻发布会披露[9]，2022年电煤价格水平处于高位，煤电企业在持续亏损的情况下，仍然最大限度地稳定价格、保障发电规模，稳定居民和企业用电成本，成功抵御了国际能源价格上涨向国内经济传导。

图表21：2022年各国家庭用电价格对比

资料来源：GPP，中金公司研究部

在交通运输行业，央国企承担了我国高铁建设和运营任务，形成了全球最大的高铁网络，总里程超3.6万公里，占全球高铁总里程的60%以上[10]。不仅如此，我国高铁里程单价也处于全球最低水平区间，单价仅为其他国家平均水平的四分之一。完善的高铁网络和低廉的价格方便民众出行，有助于旅游业和各地经济的发展。同时，高铁提升了人口和货物的流动速度，促进了经济系统内资源调配的效率。

图表22：2019年全球各国高铁里程数

资料来源：世界银行《中国的高速铁路发展》，中金公司研究部

图表23：2019年全球各国高铁价格对比

资料来源：世界银行《中国的高速铁路发展》，中金公司研究部

央国企在稳定就业方面发挥着举足轻重的作用。根据中证800与中证1000成分股数据，央国企占比仅三分之一，却提供了超过55%的就业岗位，体现了央国企作为经济压舱石的责任担当。同时，央国企往往能够提供更加完善的员工保障和福利制度。在前文的图表14中可以看到，央国企在二级议题“劳动关系管理”中的得分远高于其他类型企业。

图表24：中证1800成分股央国企与非央国企员工总数

资料来源：Wind, 中金公司研究部

央国企在履行福利性社会责任的过程中，其效率的提升和改善与企业的内生经营效率和市场化程度的提升密切相关。随着“国企三年改革行动方案”的推进，央国企的经营目标逐步重视与利益相关方相协调。

► 从投资者角度看，央国企具有强大的经营稳定性和抵御风险能力，企业盈利能力和估值水平的提升可以带来更好的股东回报。

► 从政府角度看，虽然控制失业和扩大就业仍是重要目标，但上市公司盈利能力和估值水平的提升可以带来资金和商誉的增加，这有助于企业扩大生产规模或拓展经营领域，从而提升其对地区经济、税收创造和就业数量的拉动能力。

随着国有经济布局的优化和结构调整，许多央国企纷纷开始探索和构建主业与社会责任相互协同的机制，推进市场化改革，以期实现企业盈利能力和社会发展的共赢。中国数字化转型网www.szhzxw.cn

（2）战略性社会责任

战略性社会责任一般指央国企在追逐利润之外，为了实现国家的长远发展目标和战略而额外承担的责任，通常可以分为两类：

► 进入并保持在缺乏比较优势的高端产业链环节，追求技术的先进性。央国企通常有较强的资金实力和技术积累，可以进入资本密集型的产业，如关键基础材料、核心零部件、先进基础工艺、基础软件等。虽然这些产业可能在短期内缺乏比较优势，但从长远来看，这些产业对国家的经济发展和技术进步具有重要意义。央国企通过进入这些产业，可以推动产业的发展，满足国家战略需求。

► 通过非市场化定价方式配置资源，推行部分产业优先发展战略。央国企作为国家战略的重要组成部分，有时会在产业内部或者不同产业之间通过非市场化定价方式配置资源，从而推动部分产业优先发展。这种方式虽然可能会影响市场调节，但从国家的战略角度来看，这有助于推动高附加值产业的崛起，调节国家产业结构，助力经济高质量发展。

在当前我国经济环境下，资源禀赋逐渐从劳动密集型转向资本和技术密集型，这为央国企在战略性新兴产业的投入和发展提供了新的机遇。作为国家战略的重要组成部分，央国企可以利用长期资本投入和技术研发投入，集中资源、专注于战略性和前瞻性新兴领域的研发和推广。此外，央国企还可以通过其历史上广泛布置、触及我国各个角落的业务网络和市场影响力，充分发挥规模效应，推动新兴产业的市场化进程。

图表25：战略性社会责任示意图

资料来源：中金公司研究部

当前，央国企坚持国家战略性需求导向，不断提升基础研究能力，在关键科研领域创新投入和成果显著。根据中国企业联合会、中国企业家协会编写的《2022中国500强企业发展报告》[11]统计，国有企业仍是研发投入的主要力量。2022年中国企业研发投入前十强中，国企就有6个。其中，中央企业的创新实力和科研表现突出。在“十二五”期间，科技进步特等奖和一等奖的获得者中，中央企业分别占据了85%和45%的比例。此外，科技发明一等奖的获得者中，中央企业也占据了三分之一。中国数字化转型网www.szhzxw.cn

图表26：2022年央国企与非央国企研发分行业研发投入金额对比

资料来源：Wind，中金公司研究部

央国企在相关行业的投入有助于实现国产替代，增加产业附加值，带动我国企业在全球价值链上的地位提升，助力经济高质量增长。以电信服务行业为例，5G建设本是资本密集、技术密集的领域，中国电信运营商仍然选择进入并后来居上，使我国成为全球首批商用5G的国家，在5G网络建设和发展方面处于全球前列。截至2022年9月末，我国5G基站总数约为222万个，全球占比超60%[12]。其中，中国移动累计开通基站125万站，中国联通和中国电信累计共建共享5G基站97万站[13]。这充分体现了央国企为响应国家高端产业发展战略，追求产业和技术先进性而不惜牺牲短期经济利益的责任承担。

2. 社会责任影响央国企价值发现

传统的基本面研究框架主要围绕企业的商业模式、景气周期、安全边际而展开，本质是对企业全生命周期创造自由现金流的能力进行估值，而福利性社会责任与战略性社会责任的承担能够提升利益相关方的福利水平，在短期财务表现中不一定能产生明显优势，但长期来看，利益相关方会更倾向于与高社会责任的企业进行合作与交易，总体提升企业的外部竞争优势。

图表27：央国企履行社会责任对企业财务表现影响示意图

资料来源：中金公司研究部从基本面估值模式出发，由于央国企长期承担着经营业务之外的社会责任，从而影响了其在传统面基本面研究框架中的得分情况，这使得市场对其优质的资产质量和价值创造能力有所低估。

► 在商业模式上，战略性社会责任的承担使得央国企长期资本开支无法有效转换为具有竞争力的经营利润，因此，稳健经营的央国企实际上具备优质的价值创造能力，值得市场重新发掘其资产盈利水平。

► 在景气周期上，央国企在“社会稳定性就业”和“社会公益性投资”上的社会责任承担，在客观上发挥着“保就业、稳民生、促发展”的逆周期调控作用，虽然企业营收增速难以短期内迅速提升，但长期来看，企业安全边际强，具备穿越周期的能力。中国数字化转型网www.szhzxw.cn

图表28：社会责任对企业估值模型影响示意图

资料来源：中金公司研究部

三、公司治理对央国企价值的影响机制

1. 公司治理影响央国企的长期价值

有效的公司治理结构和制度能够促进企业高效运作，降低内部风险，提升生产经营效率和ROE的考核表现。通过ESG的双重重要性价值桥梁，企业在管理制度与治理架构，股东回报与股权激励，以及信息披露和投资者沟通等公司治理议题上的表现，可以直接影响其ESG评分，增强投资吸引力，同时有助于盈利能力，市场信心和估值水平的改善。

央国企在治理方面通常受到更为严格的监管和要求，以及督促加强内部控制和风险管理，使其治理框架和机制较非央国企可能更加完善。同时，央国企注重长期发展，强调公司治理的可持续性和发展的稳定性。

根据中金ESG评级结果，中证1800中央国企的公司治理得分自2020年一季度至今，其平均表现基本优于非央国企企业治理得分20-25%左右。进一步考察央国企治理表现和新增的一利五率考核指标之一的ROE之间的内在联系，可以发现治理得分较高的企业，其ROE在过去三年平均处于5-11%左右。而治理得分较低的企业平均ROE在3-7%，其中的差距说明公司治理的提升对企业资产收益率的提升有正向的促进作用。

本部分将从央国企在公司治理制度与框架，股东回报与股权激励，以及信息披露与投资者沟通等三个公司治理议题的表现出发，分析其对央国企价值的影响机制，以及未来的提升方向。

图表29：央国企与非央国企公司治理（G）得分逐年变化情况

资料来源：Wind，中金公司研究部

图表30：央国企治理（G）得分高的企业，ROE表现更好

资料来源：Wind，中金公司研究部

2. 治理重塑途径：治理制度、回报激励、信息披露

对于央国企而言，有效的治理制度和规范的管理流程可以助力企业从管理决策的层面减少内部决策失误，避免合规和商业道德风险造成的收益损失。通过优化决策和资源配置，央国企可以更加高效地运营和管理，从而提升业绩表现和市场价值。中国数字化转型网www.szhzxw.cn

图表31：央国企需要改进的公司治理细项议题得分情况

注：数据时点为2023年3月31日，管理参与率为负极性指标，负向绝对值越大说明表现越差。其余指标负向表示低于样本平均水平

资料来源：MioTech，中金公司研究部

上图总结了中证1800央国企和非央国企有明显差异表现的公司治理议题的得分情况。其中，独立董事（独董占比），管理层任期，管理参与率（董事人均兼职数，会议平均出席率）等项目，央国企均与非央国企有着明显差距。尽管央国企综合公司治理得分优于非央国企，合规和商业道德风险相关的表现均占优，但在上述细项的治理议题上仍存在较大提升空间。

► 独立董事制度：独立董事由于其独立性与专业性的特点，在公司治理中扮演着参与决策，监督，并提供专业意见的重要角色。在董事会中增加独立董事的比例，在审计、薪酬委员会等专业委员会中聘用具备相关技能的独立董事，既可以有效避免关联交易等重大利益冲突，也可以提升治理监督的客观性和董事会的战略决策能力[14]。

自2020年国企三年改革行动以来，央国企的董事会独董占比虽然仍略低于非央国企，但0.2%左右的差距影响并不显著。自2021年末以来，央国企独董占比整体呈明显上升趋势。2023年4月，国务院办公厅印发《关于上市公司独立董事制度改革的意见》。与此同时，证监会发布《上市公司独立董事管理办法（征求意见稿）》，旨在落实并细化独董制度各环节的具体要求。央国企未来在独董制度的提升目标得到进一步的落实。

图表32：央国企与非央国企企业独立董事占比情况

资料来源：Wind，中金公司研究部

► 管理层参与治理：影响央国企ESG中治理议题得分表现的细项科目，除了上文讨论的独董制度，还有管理层任期过长，以及董事人均兼职数过多，会议平均出席率低等管理层参与治理的问题，这也是央国企未来进一步提升治理议题ESG评级，实现决策和资源优化，提升企业价值和ROE等指标的改进方向。

► ESG治理架构：公司在治理架构中为ESG和可持续发展设立专门的管理监督机构，可以帮助公司更加及时有效的识别ESG相关风险，并有针对性的提出战略发展和管理建议。领先企业会再进一步将业务条线的ESG表现纳入相应负责人的绩效考核，从考核体系出发进一步将ESG整合入公司的治理结构。央国企在ESG评级结果中的合规与商业道德相关风险较非央国企明显偏低，有效减少相关争议事件带来的经营风险。

（1）股东回报与股权激励

央国企建立完善的股东回报和股权激励制度，一方面可以通过提高分红比例和股息率提振市场信心，为投资者提供稳健回报；另一方面可以提高管理和骨干员工对于企业价值创造的重视程度，使得企业的长期利益发展得到重视，进而提升业绩表现和估值水平。中国数字化转型网www.szhzxw.cn

在《国企低估值的解析与优化》报告中提到，在自由现金流较为充裕且现金率较高的情况下，提高分红比例和股息率，加大股东回报，也有助于提升ROE水平和估值。与此同时，通过股票回购提升股权激励发展员工持股计划，可以有效帮助央国企提高风险管理水平，夯实高质量发展的估值基础。

图表33：央国企股息率均值高于非央国企

资料来源：Wind，中金公司研究部

图表34：2023Q1央国企与非央国企股权激励情况

资料来源：Wind，中金公司研究部

中证800与中证1000成分股上市公司中，央国企的股息率平均值在1.8%到2.8%的水平，股东回报力度相较非央国企有明显提升。央国企的稳健经营和高股息率仍应继续保持，通过长期高质量发展将优势转移到估值定价。与此同时，截至到2023年第一季度，央国企提出股权激励计划的公司比例约为33.9%，相较74%的非央国企已经提出股权激励政策，央国企的股权激励水平在未来仍需进一步提高。

（2）信息披露与投资者沟通

加强信息披露是央国企高质量发展提升价值的重要一环。如上文图表31所示，央国企传统信息披露得分较非央国企而言较低。一直以来，央国企在投资者眼中普遍存在着财务经营信息不对称，数据可及性较低等问题。因此，在公司治理的维度，加强投资者沟通，提高披露信息的透明度，提升信息披露的质量，有助于改善投资者对于企业价值的认知。

图表35：央国企与其他性质企业ESG报告发布情况（个数）

注：数据截至2023年6月30日

资料来源：Wind，中金公司研究部

► 央国企和非央国企的ESG信息披露均呈上升趋势：在A股的上市公司中，有单独ESG报告披露的企业数量呈逐年上升趋势。非央国企对ESG信息的披露增速在近年已经超过央国企。截至到2023年Q1，单独披露ESG报告的央国企数量占到全部披露企业的46.7%。

► ESG重要性议题的披露情况央国企略显优势：在本篇报告的第一部分我们提到，央国企在ESG重要性议题的披露情况优于非央国企。具体来看，如图表13所示，央国企在温室气体排放、劳动关系管理、员工多元化，以及大部分治理议题都有着超过40%的披露率。这些议题同时也是对外响应国家战略政策、对内提升央国企自身的经营业绩和财务表现的重要指标。未来ESG相关实质性风险被市场全面认识之后，央国企也将可以更好的为自身高质量发展创造价值提升的机会。

图表36：国资委关于央国企ESG信息披露的系列政策

资料来源：中国政府网，中金公司研究部

在国资委的系列政策引导和鼓励支持下，央国企将进一步加快推动企业低碳转型和ESG发展，充分发挥行业龙头和供应链带动作用，增加ESG数据和信息披露的覆盖率和披露质量。通过增强ESG层面的投资者沟通，加强市场对具有双重重要性的企业经营信息和风险管理的认识，提高ESG评级的同时，积极担当ESG价值的创造者。中国数字化转型网www.szhzxw.cn

四、绿色转型对央国企价值的影响机制

央国企在传统行业中的占比较大，其所面临的温室气体排放，能源管理，气候变化等ESG环境重要性议题和央国企自身的战略发展，经济性，财务表现有着不可忽视的联系。央国企在环境议题的暴露风险和管理措施也会直接反映在ESG评分中。在根据本报告前文提到的ESG整合分析中的EVA模型，我们将从外部要求和内在动力两个方面分别分析环境议题对央国企价值的影响机制。

► 根据中金ESG评级结果，中证1800中央国企的公司环境得分自2020年一季度至今，其平均表现略低于非央国企。进一步考察央国企与非央国企在环境维度二级议题的表现发现，央国企在温室气体排放方面表现明显低于非央国企，同时在气候变化，水资源利用等议题也需要进一步提升。

图表37：央国企与非央国企企业环境（E）得分逐年变化情况

资料来源：中金公司研究部

图表38：央国企与非央国企二级议题得分表现对比 

注：数据时点为2023年3月31日

资料来源：MioTech，中金公司研究部通过分析过去三年央国企环境议题表现和新增的“一利五率”考核指标之一的ROE之间的内在联系，可以发现环境议题得分较高的企业，其ROE在过去三年平均处于4到10%左右。而环境议题得分较低的企业平均ROE要略低于前一组，且两者ROE的差距自2022年起有明显增加，说明央国企环境议题表现的提升和企业资产收益率有着正向联系。

图表39：环境（E）得分高的央国企，ROE表现更好 

资料来源：Wind，中金公司研究部

1. 外部要求：双碳政策与能源安全共同作用

央国企在国民经济中扮演着重要的角色，往往受到更加直接的外部监管要求，需要在响应国家的双碳政策，提升能源利用效率，保障能源安全等方面起到行业内的示范作用。同时，绿色低碳转型，清洁能源，气候风险韧性等议题也越来越多在供应链上下游被提及，海外下游客户对相关环境表现的要求也日益严格。中国数字化转型网www.szhzxw.cn

图表40：央国企与非央国企碳排放强度对比

资料来源：Wind，中金公司研究部

图表41：央国企与非央国企分行业碳排放强度中位数

资料来源：中金公司研究部

► 低碳转型

国资委《关于推进中央企业高质量发展做好碳达峰碳中和工作的指导意见》指出，中央企业在推进国家碳达峰、碳中和中需发挥示范引领作用。生产运营节能降碳，增加能源利用效率，促进清洁安全生产，是实现碳中和目标，打造绿色低碳核心竞争优势的关键。

披露数据显示，自2017年以来，央国企的平均碳排放强度均高于非央国企，但整体呈现下降趋势。国企三年改革行动正在进一步促进央国企缩小与非央国企的碳排放强度之间的差距。

► 保障能源安全

国资委在《国企改革三年行动的经验总结与未来展望》提出要“增强重要能源资源托底作用”，明确央国企承担着保障能源安全的“压舱石”角色。但保障能源安全的同时，也需要在碳排放方面形成有效控制。

通过分析比较央国企和非央国企在不同行业的碳排放强度，可以看出电力市场中发电侧，电力运营侧，以及上游采掘业主要覆盖的公用事业和材料行业，央国企的碳排放强度要明显高于非央国企。由于保障供电的重要责任，央国企在退出火电的进程上略晚于非央国企，但未来仍有空间在重点行业提升能源利用效率，加强清洁生产等方面进步，实现全面绿色低碳转型。

2. 内在动力：降本增效与绿色收入提升价值

除了响应国家政策要求，满足供应链上下游需求之外，污染物与废弃物，能源管理，气候变化等ESG议题还可以通过双重重要性的影响机制，以央国企自身内在驱动的方式，实现企业运营风险和成本的降低，促进收入结构多元化，提高盈利能力和估值水平，以实现央国企的价值重塑。

► 降本增效

央国企可以从物料和能源消耗与管理，温室气体排放等几个细分环境议题出发实现降本增效，提升企业价值。央国企通过加强能源和碳排放管理，优化生产工艺，在增加能源利用效率的同时降低用电量和原材料的使用量，从而降低生产和原料成本，有助于提升企业盈利能力，改善基本面表现。

与此同时，从废弃物与污染物的议题出发，不达标的污染排放一方面会产生环境污染税和污染罚款，额外增加企业成本。另一方面，环保不达标可能导致企业业务牌照中断，影响正常运营，进而对基本面表现和估值产生影响。

参考图表38央国企在各个环境细分议题的表现，央国企在污染物和环境治理合规等项目表现领先于非央国企，而在物料与能源消耗等直接关联于降本增效的项目上表现仍需提高。某些重排放的传统行业的央国企已经开始带头做出改变。

图表42：宝武钢铁环境议题优秀实践提升企业价值

资料来源：宝钢ESG报告，中金公司研究部

例如，宝武集团积极响应双碳政策和节能降耗，通过改善工艺，降低长流程高炉炼钢比例，逐步转为短流程电炉炼钢，减少碳排放和能源消耗，降低运营成本开支。同时通过加强物料消耗管理，提升炉渣废钢的循环利用率，减少原材料的使用量。在实现低碳转型的同时，提升了钢铁企业的环境议题表现，同时降低了生产成本，有助于改善盈利能力和市场价值。中国数字化转型网www.szhzxw.cn

图表43：央国企与其他性质企业气候变化得分情况

资料来源：中金公司研究部

► 气候转型风险

气候转型风险包括由于碳排放限制政策，碳市场交易情况，以及能源结构调整带来的不确定性和企业潜在的调整成本。自2020年以来，央国企的气候变化得分持续低于非央国企。随着转型低碳的脚步加快，以及国际上对于气候风险的关注，央国企应积极应对气候转型风险，通过进行气候风险压力测试，提升清洁能源比重降低排放等措施，保护企业的资产和利益，适应低碳经济发展的需求，提高企业的竞争力和可持续性，从而改善基本面表现和估值水平。

► 绿色收入

央国企可以通过开发绿色产业，实现绿色收入的增长，大力发展可再生能源、应用创新环保技术、加强清洁生产等绿色产业以获取优惠补贴，发行低利率的绿色债券，并通过参与碳市场配额交易，绿电绿证交易等方式获得额外的收入。这部分收入有助于央国企的收入结构多元化，带来新的增长点，实现价值重塑。

翻译：

Abstract

1. ESG factor in the value reconstruction of central soes: The upgrading of central soes’ operating indicators helps drive ESG internally and externally

The evolution of the high-quality development of central state-owned enterprises: Since 2022, the national level has required central state-owned enterprises to “adhere to the balance between value creation and value realization” and “focus on co-construction and sharing to carry out value creation” in their business activities. Under the guidance of the new development concept and the policy of deepening reform of state-owned enterprises, state-owned enterprises actively assume environmental and social responsibilities by improving corporate governance, which helps to achieve high-quality development and value reconstruction.中国数字化转型网www.szhzxw.cn

Upgrading the operation indicator system of central state-owned enterprises: In order to improve the operation efficiency of central state-owned enterprises, SASAC has successively proposed the operation indicators of “two benefits and three rates” (2020), “two benefits and four rates” (2021) and “one benefit and five rates” (2023) since 2020, and encouraged central state-owned enterprises to achieve value creation through market-oriented and quantitative goal setting.

The driving way for ESG to enhance the value of central state-owned enterprises: A good ESG level can improve economic value added (EVA), and affect the valuation of enterprises from both external and internal competitiveness. Cicc’s ESG rating data shows that the ESG performance of central soes is on average better than that of non-central soes, especially the social and governance pillars. However, the valuations of central soes are mostly at the lower end of the industry. Within the subsample of central soes, ESG performance has a positive relationship with evaluation indicators (such as price-to-book ratio, ROE, operating cash ratio). We believe that improved ESG disclosure, social responsibility and internal governance, as well as innovative research and development, will bring new value growth opportunities for central soes.

2. Influence mechanism of social value creation on the value of central state-owned enterprises

Welfare, strategic social responsibility and business objectives coordinated development: the central state-owned enterprises have long assumed social responsibility beyond business operations. The welfare social responsibility is reflected in the important role played by the central state-owned enterprises in ensuring the people’s livelihood and promoting regional economic development. The strategic social responsibility is reflected in the central state-owned enterprises to achieve the long-term development goals of the country, enter the high-end industrial chain links, the pursuit of technological advancement; We will allocate resources through non-market-based pricing and implement the strategy of giving priority to the development of some industries.

In the early stage, the central state-owned enterprises usually face the pressure of short-term economic benefits, but in the long run, it helps to promote the rise of high-end industries and the adjustment of national industrial structure. With the advancement of the reform of state-owned enterprises, the central state-owned enterprises are gradually optimizing the economic layout and structure, looking for the mechanism of mutual coordination between the main business and social responsibility, and coordinating the profit goal and social development goal.

3. The influence mechanism of corporate governance on the value of central state-owned enterprises

Basic ways of governance to reshape the value of central state-owned enterprises: Central state-owned enterprises can achieve governance value reconstruction by optimizing governance system, enhancing equity incentives, and strengthening information disclosure and communication with investors. Cicc ESG rating results show that the corporate governance scores of central soes are better than those of non-central soes on average, and the ROE performance of central soes with higher governance scores is better.

In terms of governance system, central soes should increase the proportion of independent directors, optimize management’s participation in governance, and establish a special ESG governance structure. In terms of shareholder returns and equity incentives, the central state-owned enterprises should stabilize the high dividend rate, transfer the advantage to valuation and pricing through long-term high-quality development, and enhance the development of long-term interests of enterprises. In terms of information disclosure, the central state-owned enterprises should strengthen the transparency of information disclosure and data quality.中国数字化转型网www.szhzxw.cn

4. Impact mechanism of green transformation on the value of central state-owned enterprises

External requirements and internal motivation: Central state-owned enterprises are faced with the external requirements of responding to the two-carbon policy and ensuring energy security, and need to achieve green and low-carbon development demonstration role through measures such as energy conservation and carbon reduction, improving energy efficiency, and promoting clean and safe production. The carbon emission intensity of central state-owned enterprises shows a downward trend overall, but it is still higher than that of non-central state-owned enterprises. It is necessary to ensure energy supply while controlling carbon emissions.

Central state-owned enterprises reduce risks and costs through internal drive, and promote the diversification of income structure. On the one hand, central soes can reduce costs and increase efficiency by optimizing energy and carbon management, reducing production and raw material costs. Central soes also need to improve their performance on climate transition risks, protect assets and interests, and adapt to the needs of a low-carbon economy. On the other hand, the development of green industries can bring new growth points of green income for enterprises.

First, ESG factors in the value reconstruction of central state-owned enterprises

1. Evolution of high-quality development of central state-owned enterprises

In recent years, China has changed from a single economic growth target and efficiency target to a diversified and sustainable development goal, and the new development concept of “innovation, coordination, green, open and sharing” is leading the reform of China’s economic development in an all-round way. To achieve high-quality development means to take a long-term view of the economic structure and economic objectives, and to enhance the sustainable development capacity of China’s economy on the basis of respecting economic laws.

Chart 1: The evolution of new development concepts

Source: China Government Network, Research Department of CICC

Since 2022, the national ministries and commissions have attached great importance to the high-quality development of state-owned enterprises, on the one hand, continuously improve the innovation ability and market competitiveness of state-owned enterprises, on the other hand, through internal governance and external communication from the inside out to enhance the recognition of the value of state-owned enterprises in the capital market at home and abroad, and the concept of “building a valuation system with Chinese characteristics” has been put forward.

In May 2022

In May 2022, the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council mentioned in the Work Plan for Improving the quality of listed companies held by central Enterprises that it is necessary to “adhere to the balance between value creation and value realization [1].” It can be seen that the business philosophy of state-owned enterprises should not only provide value for the national strategy and society, but also allow capital market participants to recognize the value creation of state-owned enterprises and realize the growth of market value.中国数字化转型网www.szhzxw.cn

Since then, the national decision-making level, financial market supervision departments, and stock exchanges have successively provided guidance and put forward specific requirements for the internal and external communication of state-owned enterprises’ information, financial objectives, corporate governance improvement, research and development investment, industrial layout, and social value creation.

Among them

Among them, the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council proposed in the “Notice on the value creation Action of world-class Enterprises” that state-owned enterprises need to “focus on co-construction and sharing to carry out value creation” in line with the environmental and social goals in the ESG framework. From the environmental level, “accelerate the green and low-carbon transformation, comprehensively improve the efficiency of energy and resources utilization and clean production level, and take the lead in implementing the ‘double carbon’ goal.” From the social level, “coordinate the interests of shareholders, employees, customers, suppliers, society and other relevant parties, form a good ecology of mutual benefit and harmonious development, create value for economic and social development, and contribute to promoting common prosperity.” [2]

Figure 2: Policies related to state-owned enterprise development and valuation system with Chinese characteristics in key conferences: Evolution of new development concepts

Source: Exploring Valuation System with Chinese Characteristics (4) : Mining high-quality and Low-Valuation Listed State-owned Enterprises (Li Qiusuo, Huang Kaisong, 2023.05.21), China Securities Regulatory Commission, SASAC of The State Council, Shanghai Stock Exchange, Shenzhen Stock Exchange, Research Department of CICC

In February 2023 [3], SASAC made clear three directions for in-depth implementation of a new round of SOE reform deepening and upgrading:

1) Accelerate the optimization of the state-owned economic layout structure and enhance the function of serving the national strategy; 2) Accelerate the improvement of modern corporate governance of state-owned enterprises with Chinese characteristics and truly operate according to market-oriented mechanisms; 3) Accelerate the improvement of the system and mechanism conducive to the scientific and technological innovation of state-owned enterprises, and accelerate the creation of innovative state-owned enterprises.中国数字化转型网www.szhzxw.cn

It can be seen that the high-quality development of state-owned enterprises, the valuation system with Chinese characteristics, and the relevant concept of ESG behind the three have formed a certain correlation and complementarity. The management, disclosure and continuous improvement of ESG factors of state-owned listed enterprises can have a positive effect on the valuation of state-owned listed enterprises.

Figure 3: ESG, new development concepts and valuation system with Chinese characteristics

Source: State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council, Guangming Network, Research Department of CICC

2. Upgrading and comparison of central enterprise operating index system

In recent years, in order to enhance the vitality of state-owned enterprises, improve their efficiency, and further promote the market-oriented reform of state-owned enterprises, the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council has established a central enterprise operation indicator system:

the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council has established a central enterprise operation indicator system:

► In 2020, the Three-year Action Plan for SOE Reform (2020-2022) was officially promulgated, forming for the first time a “two benefits and three rates” indicator system, including net profit, total profit, operating income profit rate, asset-liability ratio and R&D funding investment intensity.

► In 2021, the index of “total labor productivity” has been increased and upgraded to “two benefits and four rates” to guide central enterprises to improve production efficiency. In recent years, the index system of “two benefits and four rates” has achieved remarkable results in guiding and promoting the reform and development of central enterprises.中国数字化转型网www.szhzxw.cn

► In January 2023, a new round of state-owned enterprise reform was opened, and SASAC held a meeting of central enterprise leaders, which further optimized the central enterprise operation indicator system as “one profit and five rates”, with the goal of “one increase, one stability, four improvements”, and adjusted the indicators of “two profit and four rates” accordingly:

Replacing net profit with return on equity (ROE) reflects the value creation ability of state-owned enterprises, pays more attention to output efficiency, and ADAPTS to the evaluation standard of capital market. Replace the operating income margin with the operating cash ratio, and focus more on cash flow security and sustainable investment capabilities. R&d innovation, labor allocation efficiency and human capital level are also the focus of business system indicators.

Later in this report, we will further analyze the logical connection between environmental, social and governance issues and the above business indicators and their impact on reshaping the value of central soes.

Figure 4: Changes in the management index system of central state-owned enterprises in recent years

Source: State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, Research Department of CICC

3. The driving ways of ESG to enhance the value of central soes

(1) The internal and external effects of ESG on the valuation of central state-owned enterprises

In our report “The Application of ESG Integration in Fundamental Valuation Analysis”, we mentioned that a firm’s ESG performance can affect its future economic value added (EVA) from both external competitive advantage and internal competitiveness. In December 2009, the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council issued the Interim Measures for the Assessment of the Business Performance of Central Enterprises, which proposed the use of EVA to assess the business performance of central enterprises and issued the specific calculation methods for the Assessment Rules of Economic Added Value. Therefore, EVA indicators and ESG performance of enterprises naturally form a correlation, specifically:

► From the level of external competition (incremental externality), state-owned enterprises play an important role in ensuring people’s livelihood and serving the national strategy.

They are more active in taking social responsibility, responding to the “double carbon” goal, and ensuring the safety of downstream products and services. Therefore, the better performance of state-owned enterprises in external aspects such as environment and society makes state-owned enterprises have comparative advantages.中国数字化转型网www.szhzxw.cn

► From the level of internal competition (production capacity management),

most state-owned enterprises have been forced to build a top-down ESG management system, and actively respond to the national initiative of “stable employment”, so the better performance of state-owned enterprises in the level of governance and social responsibility makes state-owned enterprises have a comparative advantage in production capacity.

Figure 5: Schematic diagram of integrating ESG integration method into EVA model

Source: Application of ESG Integration in Fundamental Valuation Analysis (Zhou Xiaoxiao, Jin Cheng et al., 2023.04.06), SASB, Research Department of CICC, China

► ESG performance of central soes is better than that of non-central soes:

The data distribution of CICC’s ESG rating shows that the average ESG score of state-owned enterprises is higher than that of other types of enterprises, especially the average ESG level of central soes in the social pillar and governance pillar is significantly higher than that of listed companies of other nature. Since 2020, the average ESG composite score of central and local soes has been better than that of non-central soes, and central soes have a clear advantage in terms of ESG performance.

► The internal and external advantages of central soes are not reflected in valuation:

from the perspective of valuation, most listed companies of central soes are at a lower valuation level in the same industry, and the discount of central soes in most industries is larger than that of non-central soes. Among them, the central state-owned enterprises accounted for a relatively large automobile, construction, steel, petroleum and petrochemical, transportation and other traditional industries valuation discount is more obvious.中国数字化转型网www.szhzxw.cn

Figure 6: ESG scores of different types of enterprises

Note: The statistical data is as of March 31, 2023, and the sample is from the constituent stocks of China Securities 800 and China Securities 1000

Source: Research Department, CICC

Chart 7: Changes in ESG scores of central soes and non-central soes year by year

Note: The statistical period is from March 31, 2020 to March 31, 2023

Source: Research Department, CICC

Figure 8: Comparison of valuations of central enterprises by industry

Note: As of February 28, 2023

Source: Exploring Valuation System with Chinese Characteristics (2) : Analysis and Optimization of Low Valuation of State-owned Enterprises (Li Qiusuo, Huang Kaisong et al., 2023.03.19), Wind, Research Department of CICC

Chart 9: Central soes in most industries have a large discount compared with non-central soes

Note: As of February 28, 2023

Source: Exploring Valuation System with Chinese Characteristics (2) : Analysis and Optimization of Low Valuation of State-owned Enterprises (Li Qiusuo, Huang Kaisong et al., 2023.03.19), Wind, Research Department of CICC中国数字化转型网www.szhzxw.cn

► Positive correlation between ESG performance and assessment indicators of central state-owned enterprises:

In order to further understand the relationship between ESG performance and value of central soes, we selected the component stocks of China Securities 800 and China Securities 1000 (hereinafter referred to as “China Securities 1800”) to analyze the relationship between ESG score of central soes and their valuation (price-to-book ratio) change rate and the newly added “one profit and five ratio” operating assessment index (ROE, operating cash ratio).

The results show that since the reform of state-owned enterprises in the past three years, except for the fluctuations in the energy crisis period, the central state-owned enterprises with a higher overall ESG score have certain advantages in the price-book ratio change rate, return on equity and operating cash ratio in the next six months compared with the central state-owned enterprises with a lower ESG score.

Chart 10: The ESG score of central soes compared with the rate of change in price-to-book ratio over the next six months

Note: The vertical axis calculation formula is the change rate of the average price-book ratio after 6 months compared with the average price-book ratio of the current period

Source: Wind, Research Department, CICC

Figure 11: Comparison of 25% group ROE (%) before and after ESG score of central soes

Source: Wind, Research Department, CICC中国数字化转型网www.szhzxw.cn

Figure 12: Comparison of 25% sub-group cash rate (%) before and after the central soes’ governance score

Source: Wind, Research Department, CICC

(2) Information disclosure, social responsibility and governance, innovation and research and development bring room for valuation improvement

With the gradual increase in market recognition of the value reconstruction of central soes, the externalities of green premium and social responsibility capital value contained in central soes under the valuation system with Chinese characteristics will gradually internalize into market value, and the ESG performance of listed companies of central soes will become the driving factor affecting enterprise value. We believe that ESG drives the value reconstruction of central soes in the following ways:

► ESG information disclosure reduces investor information asymmetry

As mentioned in the report “Application of ESG Integration in Fundamental Valuation Analysis” [4], ESG has a substantial impact on the fundamental performance of enterprises through the characteristics of financial importance. ESG data disclosed by enterprises can be incorporated into risk management and valuation models to help investors better identify and manage the related financial risks brought by ESG. As effective incremental information in addition to the fundamental data.

Through statistical induction of the ESG information disclosed by the component companies of China Securities 800 and China Securities 1000, we found that for the disclosure of important ESG issues, the data coverage of central state-owned enterprises and non-central state-owned enterprises in most ESG secondary issues showed an increasing trend year by year in the past three years. In addition, the disclosure rate of central soes listed companies on most ESG issues is higher than that of non-central soes listed companies, which enables ESG investors at home and abroad to collect credible data and integrate corresponding ESG indicators into fundamental research using integrated methods, and at the same time reduces the asymmetric problem of investors’ information acquisition of central soes.

Figure 13: ESG issue disclosure of central soes and non-central soes中国数字化转型网www.szhzxw.cn

Note: The statistics are as of June 30, 2023 for company ESG reporting

Source: MioTech, Research Department, CICC

► Social responsibility and internal governance promote the value growth of central soes

In the ESG system, the level of labor relations management under the social pillar, the degree of emphasis on employee training and development, and the advanced level of enterprise productivity show a high positive correlation. Improving incentive mechanism and increasing the scale and quantity of equity incentive are also important means for internal governance to enhance employee enthusiasm and enterprise value. Enterprises that usually pay attention to the compensation, welfare, training and continuous development of technical and scientific research employees can reduce the mobility of key technical personnel and form efficient internal communication efficiency and production efficiency.

According to our analysis, the central state-owned enterprises in the constituent stocks of CSI 800 and CSI 1000 have obvious advantages over non-central state-owned enterprises in labor relations management. For the scale and quantity of equity incentive, there is still a significant gap between central state-owned enterprises, but it has initially shown a growth trend, which is one of the potential points for central state-owned enterprises to improve their own valuation value in the future.中国数字化转型网www.szhzxw.cn

Figure 14: “Labor relations management” scores of central soes and non-central soes

Note: The labor relations management score mainly includes employment policy, welfare management, dispute events, etc. Please refer to the CICC ESG Manual series reports for details

Source: Research Department, CICC

Figure 15: The scale and number of equity incentive cases of central enterprises and local state-owned enterprises are lower than those of non-state-owned enterprises

Source: Exploring Valuation System with Chinese Characteristics (2) : Analysis and Optimization of Low Valuation of State-owned Enterprises (Li Qiusuo, Huang Kaisong et al., 2023.03.19), Wind, Research Department of CICC

► Innovative research and development brings new value growth opportunities

Central state-owned enterprises serve the national strategy, by paying attention to the potential opportunities brought by “strategic emerging industries” and actively responding to increase investment in innovation and research and development, central state-owned enterprises can promote the development of innovative business, bring new business growth points, and repair the valuation. Such as green development and carbon neutrality, digital economy and industrial chain security.

At present, the average ratio of R&D personnel and R&D expense of central soes is lower than that of non-central soes, but since the reform of state-owned enterprises was proposed three years ago, the overall trend has been slowly rising. Under the background of high-quality development of central state-owned enterprises, there is a large room for improvement. R&d investment intensity is one of the evaluation indicators of central state-owned enterprises. With the further deepening of the reform of state-owned enterprises, the development of innovation and R&D will effectively promote the valuation of central state-owned enterprises.中国数字化转型网www.szhzxw.cn

Figure 16: Proportion of R&D personnel in central state-owned enterprises and non-central state-owned enterprises

Source: Wind, Research Department, CICC

Figure 17: R&D expenditure ratio of central soes and non-central soes

Source: Wind, Research Department, CICC

In the following part of this report, we will analyze the specific influence mechanism of ESG factors on the value remodeling of central soes from three aspects: society, governance and environment.

Second, the impact mechanism of social value creation on the value of central state-owned enterprises

1. Welfare social responsibility and strategic social responsibility

Central state-owned enterprises are widely distributed in basic industries related to national economy and people’s livelihood, national defense and security. [5] Central state-owned enterprises have undertaken two kinds of social responsibilities in China:

Welfare social responsibility: mainly reflected in the implementation of macro-counter-cyclical regulation and control tasks, related to safeguarding the national economy and people’s livelihood, maintaining economic stability and other social responsibilities to make contributions.

► Strategic social responsibility: Central state-owned enterprises undertake strategic innovation tasks in the construction of China’s modern industrial system. In addition to their own business development, undertake economic stability. Industrial upgrading and development and other important tasks, is an important economic body of China’s economic quality.中国数字化转型网www.szhzxw.cn

Figure 18: Market value scale of enterprises of different ownership in the first level of Wind industry in the constituent stocks of China Securities 800 and China Securities 1000

Note: The data date is March 31, 2023

Source: iFinD, Research Department, CICC

(1) Welfare social responsibility

Welfare social responsibility generally refers to the responsibility of the central state-owned enterprises to protect the national economy and people’s livelihood. It is mainly divided into three categories: public welfare price subsidies, social stability employment and social welfare investment.

Public welfare price subsidies: State-owned enterprises in some key industries or fields. Such as energy, transportation, etc., in order to ensure the basic needs of the public, the price of products or services is set below the market level. This behavior is actually a form of price subsidy aimed at guaranteeing the public’s basic living needs and social stability.

► Social stability employment:

State-owned enterprises need to cooperate with the government to ensure the employment of residents in the operation process. And in order to ensure social stability, state-owned enterprises are difficult to adjust the number of personnel according to the actual operation needs. In addition to the number of jobs, state-owned enterprises usually offer a more comprehensive welfare package. Including health insurance, pensions, housing subsidies and so on. These benefits play an important role in improving the quality of life and ensuring the stability of employees’ lives.中国数字化转型网www.szhzxw.cn

Investment in public welfare: State-owned enterprises do not directly pursue economic returns when investing in some projects. But make decisions based on the goals of improving the living standards of local residents and promoting regional economic development. Under the call of “rural revitalization” and “common prosperity”. State-owned enterprises have taken the initiative to expand their business to remote and poor areas to promote local economic development.

Figure 19: Central enterprises and state-owned enterprises bear the welfare social responsibility from the government

Source: Research Department, CICC

The three kinds of welfare social responsibilities of central state-owned enterprises are interrelated and mutually supportive.

Social stability employment and social public welfare investment, as important supports for economic ballast and high-quality development. Will also become one of the main driving forces for the promotion of central state-owned enterprises’ profit center. At present, the central state-owned enterprises main communication, transportation, electricity and other factor prices are far lower than the international average. The main reason is that China’s per capita income and consumption level is not enough to support the overall increase in factor prices.

Therefore, enterprises with central state-owned enterprises as the core have vigorously invested in the strategy of “rural revitalization” and “common prosperity”, aiming to give full play to the advantages of the system, solve the problems of regional imbalance in China’s economic development and large urban-rural income gap. And comprehensively improve the per capita income level of China. With the gradual rise of per capita disposable income. The price of factors controlled by central state-owned enterprises will gradually have room to rise. And enterprises will directly benefit from the resulting increase in the profit center.中国数字化转型网www.szhzxw.cn

Central state-owned enterprises have created a lot of social value.

Taking communications as an example, China’s telecom operators have responded to the national call of “speed up and fee reduction” and significantly reduced communication charges. At the same time, they have actively responded to the call of “rural revitalization” and “common prosperity” to promote telecom inclusive projects and improve rural information infrastructure service capabilities. At the same time, China’s Internet price is cheap to have a big advantage. Data shows that the cost of 1GB data in China is only 0.4 US dollars [7], which is among the lowest in the world. The construction of sound infrastructure and low prices not only guarantee the people’s right to enjoy information services. But also help the development and expansion of the Internet ecosystem, and promote the national economic development.

Figure 20: Comparison of 1GB data charges by country in 2012

Source: Cable.co.uk, Research Department, CICC

In the energy industry, China’s electricity price is low and stable. And the coverage is comprehensive, which not only protects the basic electricity demand of people’s life. But also lays the foundation for the healthy development of the industry. Data show that in 2022, China’s household electricity price is only 0.08 US dollars/KWH [8], much lower than other countries. According to the economic operation press conference of the central enterprises [9]. The price level of thermal coal in 2022 is at a high level, and coal power enterprises still maximize the stability of prices, ensure the scale of power generation, stabilize the cost of electricity for residents and enterprises. And successfully resist the international energy price rise to the domestic economy.

Chart 21: Comparison of household electricity prices by country in 2012

Source: GPP, Research Department, CICC

In the transportation industry

In the transportation industry, the central state-owned enterprises undertook the construction and operation tasks of China’s high-speed rail, forming the world’s largest high-speed rail network with a total mileage of more than 36,000 kilometers, accounting for more than 60% of the world’s total high-speed rail mileage [10]. Not only that, China’s high-speed rail mileage unit price is also in the world’s lowest level range. The unit price is only a quarter of the average level of other countries. The perfect high-speed rail network and low prices make it easier for people to travel. Which contributes to the development of tourism and local economies. At the same time, high-speed rail increases the speed of the flow of people and goods. And promotes the efficiency of resource allocation within the economic system.

Figure 22: The mileage of high-speed rail by country in the world in 2019

Source: High-speed Rail Development in China, World Bank, CICC Research Department

Chart 23: Comparison of high-speed rail prices in countries around the world in 2019

Source: High-speed Rail Development in China, World Bank, CICC Research Department

The central state-owned enterprises play an important role in stabilizing employment.

According to the data of the constituent stocks of China Securities 800 and China Securities 1000. The central state-owned enterprises accounted for only one-third of the total. But provided more than 55% of the jobs, reflecting the responsibility of the central state-owned enterprises as the economic ballast. At the same time, central soes are often able to provide more complete employee protection and welfare systems. As can be seen from Figure 14 above, the score of central soes in the second-level topic “labor relations management” is much higher than that of other types of enterprises.

Chart 24: Total number of employees of central soes and non-central soes in the 1800 constituent stocks of CSI中国数字化转型网www.szhzxw.cn

Source: Wind, Research Department, CICC

In the process of fulfilling the welfare social responsibility, the improvement of the efficiency of the central state enterprises is closely related to the improvement of the endogenous operation efficiency and marketization degree of the enterprises.

With the promotion of the “three-year Action Plan for the Reform of State-owned enterprises”. The operation objectives of central state-owned enterprises gradually attach importance to the coordination with stakeholders.

► From the perspective of investors, the central state-owned enterprises have strong operational stability and the ability to resist risks. And the improvement of corporate profitability and valuation can bring better shareholder returns.

From the perspective of the government, although controlling unemployment and expanding employment are still important goals. The improvement of profitability and valuation of listed companies can bring about an increase in capital and goodwill. Which helps enterprises to expand production scale or expand business areas. Thus improving their ability to pull the regional economy, tax creation and employment.

With the optimization and structural adjustment of the state-owned economic layout. Many central state-owned enterprises have begun to explore and build a mechanism of mutual coordination between the main business and social responsibility. And promote market-oriented reform, in order to achieve a win-win situation of corporate profitability and social development.中国数字化转型网www.szhzxw.cn

(2) Strategic social responsibility

Strategic social responsibility generally refers to the additional responsibilities undertaken by the central state-owned enterprises in order to achieve the long-term development goals and strategies of the country in addition to the pursuit of profits, which can be generally divided into two categories:

► Enter and maintain in the lack of comparative advantages of high-end industrial chain links, the pursuit of technological advancement.

Central soes usually have strong financial strength and technology accumulation, and can enter capital-intensive industries. Such as key basic materials, core components, advanced basic processes, and basic software. Although these industries may lack comparative advantages in the short term, in the long run. These industries are of great significance to the country’s economic development and technological progress. By entering these industries. The central state-owned enterprises can promote the development of the industry and meet the national strategic needs.

► Allocate resources through non-market-based pricing and implement the strategy of giving priority to the development of some industries.

As an important part of the national strategy. The central state-owned enterprises sometimes allocate resources within the industry or between different industries through non-market-oriented pricing. So as to promote the priority development of some industries. Although this approach may affect market regulation, from the strategic point of view of the country. It will help promote the rise of high value-added industries, adjust the national industrial structure. And help high-quality economic development.

In the current economic environment of our country. The resource endowment has gradually shifted from labor intensive to capital and technology intensive. Which provides new opportunities for the investment and development of central state-owned enterprises in strategic emerging industries. As an important part of the national strategy. The central state-owned enterprises can use long-term capital investment and technology research and development investment to concentrate resources and focus on research and development and promotion of strategic and forward-looking emerging fields. In addition, the central state-owned enterprises can also give full play to the scale effect and promote the marketization process of emerging industries through its business network and market influence that have been widely deployed and touched every corner of our country in history.

Figure 25: Strategic social Responsibility diagram

Source: Research Department, CICC

At present, the central state-owned enterprises adhere to the national strategic demand orientation, constantly improve basic research capabilities, and innovation investment and achievements in key scientific research areas are remarkable.

According to the “2022 China Top 500 Enterprises Development Report” [11] compiled by China Enterprise Confederation and China Entrepreneur Association, state-owned enterprises are still the main force of R&D investment. In 2022, there will be 6 state-owned enterprises in the top 10 R&D investment of Chinese enterprises. Among them, the innovation strength and scientific research performance of central enterprises are outstanding. During the “Twelfth Five-Year Plan” period, among the winners of the special prize and the first prize of scientific and technological progress, the central enterprises accounted for 85% and 45% respectively. In addition, central enterprises also accounted for one-third of the winners of the first prize for scientific and technological inventions.

Figure 26: Comparison of R&D investment of central state-owned enterprises and non-central state-owned enterprises by industry in 2012中国数字化转型网www.szhzxw.cn

Source: Wind, Research Department, CICC

The investment of central state enterprises in relevant industries will help realize domestic substitution, increase industrial added value, promote the status of Chinese enterprises in the global value chain, and help high-quality economic growth.

Taking the telecom service industry as an example, 5G construction is a capital-intensive and technology-intensive field. And Chinese telecom operators still choose to enter and catch up, making China the first country in the world to commercialize 5G. And at the forefront of 5G network construction and development in the world. By the end of September 2022, the total number of 5G base stations in China is about 2.22 million. Accounting for more than 60% in the world [12]. Among them, China Mobile has opened a total of 1.25 million base stations. And China Unicom and China Telecom have jointly built and shared 970,000 5G base stations [13]. This fully reflects the responsibility of the central state-owned enterprises to respond to the national high-end industrial development strategy and pursue industrial and technological advancement at the expense of short-term economic interests.

2. Social responsibility affects the value discovery of central soes

The traditional fundamental research framework mainly focuses on the business model, business cycle and safety margin of the enterprise, which is essentially to evaluate the ability of the enterprise to create free cash flow in the whole life cycle, while the commitment of welfare social responsibility and strategic social responsibility can improve the welfare level of stakeholders, and may not produce obvious advantages in short-term financial performance, but in the long run, Stakeholders will be more inclined to cooperate and deal with enterprises with high social responsibility. And generally enhance the external competitive advantage of enterprises.

Figure 27: Schematic diagram of the impact of central state-owned enterprises’ social responsibility on their financial performance

Source: CICC Research Department From the fundamental valuation model. Because the central state-owned enterprises have long assumed social responsibilities outside the business. Thus affecting their scores in the traditional fundamental research framework. Which makes the market underestimate their high-quality asset quality and value creation ability.

► In terms of business model,

the commitment of strategic social responsibility makes it impossible for the central soes to effectively convert their long-term capital expenditure into competitive operating profits. Therefore, the stable operation of the central soes actually has high-quality value creation ability. And it is worth the market to re-explore their asset profitability level.中国数字化转型网www.szhzxw.cn

► In the business cycle

the social responsibility of the central state-owned enterprises in “social stable employment” and “social public welfare investment” plays an objective role in the counter-cyclical regulation of “ensuring employment, stabilizing people’s livelihood and promoting development”. Although the growth rate of enterprise revenue is difficult to increase rapidly in the short term. In the long run, enterprises have a strong margin of safety and the ability to cross the cycle.

Figure 28: Schematic diagram of the impact of social responsibility on the enterprise valuation model

Source: Research Department, CICC

Third, the influence mechanism of corporate governance on the value of central state-owned enterprises

1. Corporate governance affects the long-term value of central soes

Effective corporate governance structure and system can promote efficient operation of enterprises, reduce internal risks, improve production and operation efficiency and ROE assessment performance. Through the double-importance value bridge of ESG, a company’s performance on corporate governance issues such as management system and governance structure, shareholder returns and equity incentives, as well as information disclosure and investor communication can directly affect its ESG score, enhance investment attractiveness, and contribute to the improvement of profitability, market confidence and valuation level.中国数字化转型网www.szhzxw.cn

Central soes are usually subject to stricter supervision and requirements in terms of governance. And urged to strengthen internal control and risk management. So that their governance framework and mechanism may be more complete than non-central soes. At the same time, the central state-owned enterprises pay attention to long-term development. Emphasizing the sustainability of corporate governance and the stability of development.

According to CICC’s ESG rating results, the corporate governance score of CICC 1800 central soes has been roughly 20-25% better than the corporate governance score of non-central soes since the first quarter of 2020.

Further examining the intrinsic relationship between the governance performance of central soes and ROE. One of the newly added one-profit and five-rate assessment indicators. We can find that the ROE of enterprises with high governance scores is about 5-11% on average in the past three years. The average ROE of enterprises with low governance scores is 3-7%. Which indicates that the improvement of corporate governance has a positive promoting effect on the improvement of corporate return on assets.

This part will start from the performance of central state-owned enterprises in three corporate governance issues:. Corporate governance system and framework, shareholder return and equity incentive. And information disclosure and investor communication, and analyze the impact mechanism on the value of central state-owned enterprises. As well as the future improvement direction.

Figure 29: Changes in corporate governance (G) scores of central soes and non-central soes year by year

Source: Wind, Research Department, CICC

Chart 30: Firms with high central SOE governance (G) scores have better ROE performance

Source: Wind, Research Department, CICC

2. Ways to reshape governance: governance system, reward incentives, and information disclosure

For central state-owned enterprises, effective governance systems and standardized management processes can help enterprises reduce internal decision-making errors from the level of management decision-making and avoid revenue losses caused by compliance and business moral hazard. By optimizing decision making and resource allocation. Central soes can operate and manage more efficiently, thereby enhancing performance and market value.

Chart 31: The scores of the detailed issues of corporate governance that central soes need to improve

Note: The data time point is March 31, 2023, and the management participation rate is a negative polarity indicator. The greater the negative absolute value, the worse the performance. The remaining indicators are negative, indicating that they are below the sample average中国数字化转型网www.szhzxw.cn

Source: MioTech, Research Department, CICC

The chart above summarizes the scores of the corporate governance issues of 1800 central soes and non-central soes with significant differences in performance. Among them, there is a significant gap between central state-owned enterprises and non-central state-owned enterprises in such items as independent directors (proportion of independent directors), management tenure, management participation rate (number of directors per capita part-time jobs, average attendance rate of meetings). Although the overall corporate governance score of central soes is better than that of non-central soes. And the performance related to compliance and business moral hazard is superior. There is still much room for improvement in the governance issues of the above detailed items.

► Independent director system:

Independent directors, due to their independence and professionalism, play an important role of participating in decision-making, supervision and providing professional advice in corporate governance. Increasing the proportion of independent directors in the board of directors and hiring independent directors with relevant skills in professional committees such as audit and remuneration committees can not only effectively avoid major conflicts of interest such as related party transactions, but also improve the objectivity of governance supervision and the strategic decision-making ability of the board of directors [14].

Since the three-year reform action of state-owned enterprises in 2020. Although the proportion of independent directors of the board of directors of central state-owned enterprises is still slightly lower than that of non-central state-owned enterprises, the difference of about 0.2% is not significant. Since the end of 2021, the proportion of independent directors in central soes has shown a significant upward trend. In April 2023, The General Office of the State Council issued the Opinions on the Reform of the Independent Director System of Listed Companies. At the same time, the CSRC issued the “Measures for the Management of Independent Directors of Listed Companies (Draft for Comment)”, which aims to implement and refine the specific requirements of each link of the independent director system. The future promotion goal of the independent manager system in the central state-owned enterprises has been further implemented.

Figure 32: Proportion of independent directors in central state-owned enterprises and non-central state-owned enterprises中国数字化转型网www.szhzxw.cn

Source: Wind, Research Department, CICC

► Management participation in governance:

In addition to the independent director system discussed above, there are also issues such as excessively long tenure of management, excessive number of directors’ per capita part-time jobs, and low average attendance rate of management’s participation in governance. These are also issues that will further improve ESG rating of governance issues of central soes in the future to achieve decision-making and resource optimization. Improve the direction of enterprise value and ROE.

► ESG governance structure:

The establishment of a dedicated management supervision body for ESG and sustainable development in the governance structure can help the company identify ESG related risks in a more timely and effective manner, and put forward targeted strategic development and management suggestions. Leading companies will further incorporate the ESG performance of the business line into the performance assessment of the corresponding leader, and further integrate ESG into the corporate governance structure from the assessment system. The compliance and business ethics related risks of central state-owned enterprises in ESG rating results are significantly lower than those of non-central state-owned enterprises, effectively reducing the operational risks caused by relevant disputes.

(1) Shareholder return and equity incentive

The central state-owned enterprises to establish a sound shareholder return and equity incentive system, on the one hand, can increase the dividend ratio and dividend rate to boost market confidence, to provide investors with stable returns; On the other hand, it can improve the importance of management and key employees to the value creation of enterprises, so that the long-term interest development of enterprises can be paid attention to, and then improve the performance and valuation level.

In the report “Analysis and Optimization of Low Valuation of State-owned enterprises” mentioned that in the case of relatively abundant free cash flow and high cash ratio, increasing the dividend ratio and dividend rate and increasing shareholder returns will also help to improve the ROE level and valuation. At the same time, the promotion of equity incentive and development of employee stock ownership plan through stock buybacks can effectively help central state-owned enterprises improve their risk management level and consolidate the valuation basis for high-quality development.

Figure 33: The average dividend yield of central soes is higher than that of non-central soes

Source: Wind, Research Department, CICC

Figure 34: Equity incentives of central state-owned enterprises and non-central state-owned enterprises in 2013 Q1

Source: Wind, Research Department, CICC

Among the listed companies of the CSI 800 and CSI 1000, the average dividend yield of the central soes is 1.8% to 2.8%, and the intensity of shareholder return is significantly improved compared with that of non-central soes.

The sound operation and high dividend yield of central soes should continue to be maintained. And the advantages should be transferred to valuation pricing through long-term high-quality development. At the same time, as of the first quarter of 2023. The proportion of central soes that have proposed equity incentive plans is about 33.9%, compared with 74% of non-central soes that have proposed equity incentive policies. The level of equity incentive of central soes still needs to be further improved in the future.中国数字化转型网www.szhzxw.cn

(2) Information disclosure and investor communication

Strengthening information disclosure is an important part of the high-quality development of central soes to enhance their value. As shown in Table 31 above, the traditional information disclosure score of central soes is lower than that of non-central soes. For a long time, in the eyes of investors, the central state-owned enterprises generally have problems of asymmetric financial management information and low data accessibility. Therefore, from the perspective of corporate governance, strengthening investor communication, improving the transparency of disclosed information, and improving the quality of information disclosure are conducive to improving investors’ cognition of corporate value.

Figure 35: ESG reports issued by central soes and other enterprises (number)

Note: Data as of June 30, 2023

Source: Wind, Research Department, CICC

► The ESG information disclosure of central state-owned enterprises and non-central state-owned enterprises is on the rise:

Among A-share listed companies, the number of enterprises with separate ESG report disclosure is on the rise year by year. In recent years, the growth rate of ESG information disclosure by non-central state-owned enterprises has exceeded that of central state-owned enterprises. As of Q1 2023, the number of central soes that separately disclosed ESG reports accounted for 46.7% of all disclosed enterprises.

► Disclosure of ESG material Issues Central soes have a slight advantage:

In the first part of this report, we mentioned that central soes have better disclosure of ESG material issues than non-central soes. Specifically, as shown in Figure 13, central soes have disclosure rates of more than 40% on greenhouse gas emissions, labor relations management, employee diversity, and most governance issues. These issues are also important indicators for responding to national strategic policies externally and improving the operating performance and financial performance of central state-owned enterprises internally. After the future substantive risks related to ESG are fully understood by the market, the central state-owned enterprises will also be able to better create value enhancement opportunities for their high-quality development.中国数字化转型网www.szhzxw.cn

Figure 36: Series of policies of SASAC on ESG information disclosure of central soes

Source: China Government Network, Research Department of CICC

Under the guidance and encouragement of SASAC’s series of policies, the central state-owned enterprises will further accelerate the promotion of low-carbon transformation and ESG development of enterprises, give full play to the leading role of the industry and supply chain, and increase the coverage and quality of ESG data and information disclosure. By enhancing investor communication at the ESG level, we will enhance the market’s understanding of the dual importance of business information and risk management, and actively act as the creator of ESG value while improving ESG ratings.

Fourth, the impact mechanism of green transformation on the value of central state-owned enterprises

Central state-owned enterprises account for a large proportion of traditional industries, and the important ESG environmental issues such as greenhouse gas emissions, energy management and climate change they face are closely related to their own strategic development, economy and financial performance. Central soes’ exposure to environmental issues and management practices will also be directly reflected in the ESG score. In accordance with the EVA model of ESG integrated analysis mentioned earlier in this report, we will analyze the impact mechanism of environmental issues on the value of central soes from two aspects: external requirements and internal motivation.中国数字化转型网www.szhzxw.cn

► According to CICC ESG rating results, the corporate environment score of CSF 1800 central soes has been slightly lower than that of non-central soes on average since the first quarter of 2020.

Further investigation on the performance of central state-owned enterprises and non-central state-owned enterprises in the second level of environmental issues shows that the performance of central state-owned enterprises in terms of greenhouse gas emissions is significantly lower than that of non-central state-owned enterprises. Meanwhile, issues such as climate change and water resources utilization also need to be further improved.

Figure 37: Changes in the enterprise environment (E) scores of central soes and non-central soes from year to year

Source: Research Department, CICC

Figure 38: Comparison of second-level issue scores between central soes and non-central soes

Note: The data date is March 31, 2023

Source: MioTech, CICC Research Department Through the analysis of the internal relationship between the performance of central state-owned enterprises on environmental issues in the past three years and the ROE of one of the newly added “one profit and five rate” assessment indicators, we can find that the ROE of enterprises with high scores on environmental issues in the past three years is about 4 to 10% on average. The average ROE of enterprises with low scores on environmental issues is slightly lower than that of the previous group, and the ROE gap between the two has increased significantly since 2022, indicating that the improvement of environmental issues performance of central soes has a positive correlation with corporate return on assets.中国数字化转型网www.szhzxw.cn

Chart 39: Central soes with high environmental (E) scores have better ROE performance

Source: Wind, Research Department, CICC

1. External requirements: Dual carbon policy and energy security work together

Central soes play an important role in the national economy, often subject to more direct external regulatory requirements, and need to play an exemplary role in responding to the national dual-carbon policy, improving energy efficiency, and ensuring energy security. At the same time, green low-carbon transformation, clean energy, climate risk resilience and other issues are also increasingly mentioned in the upstream and downstream of the supply chain, and overseas downstream customers are increasingly stringent requirements for relevant environmental performance.

Figure 40: Comparison of carbon emission intensity between central soes and non-central soes

Source: Wind, Research Department, CICC

Figure 41: Median carbon emission intensity of central soes and non-central soes by sector

Source: Research Department, CICC

► Low-carbon transition

Sasac’s “Guiding Opinions on Promoting the high-quality Development of central Enterprises to achieve carbon peak carbon neutrality” pointed out that central enterprises need to play a leading role in promoting national carbon peak and carbon neutrality. Energy saving and carbon reduction in production and operation, increasing energy utilization efficiency, and promoting clean and safe production are the keys to achieving carbon neutrality goals and creating green and low-carbon core competitive advantages.中国数字化转型网www.szhzxw.cn

According to the data disclosed, since 2017, the average carbon emission intensity of central state-owned enterprises is higher than that of non-central state-owned enterprises, but the overall trend is downward. The three-year SOE reform campaign is further facilitating the reduction of the carbon intensity gap between central soes and non-central soes.

► Ensuring energy security

Sasac in the “Three years of State-owned Enterprise Reform action Summary of experience and future prospects” proposed to “strengthen the role of important energy resources to support the bottom”, it is clear that the central state-owned enterprises assume the role of “ballast” to ensure energy security. However, while ensuring energy security, it is also necessary to form effective control of carbon emissions.

By analyzing and comparing the carbon emission intensity of central state-owned enterprises and non-central state-owned enterprises in different industries, it can be seen that the carbon emission intensity of central state-owned enterprises is significantly higher than that of non-central state-owned enterprises in the power generation side, the power operation side, and the public utilities and materials industries mainly covered by upstream extractive industries. Due to the important responsibility of ensuring power supply, the central state-owned enterprises are slightly later than non-central state-owned enterprises in the process of withdrawing from thermal power, but there is still room in the future to improve energy efficiency in key industries, strengthen clean production and other aspects of progress, and achieve a comprehensive green and low-carbon transformation.中国数字化转型网www.szhzxw.cn

2. Internal motivation: cost reduction and efficiency increase and green income increase value

In addition to responding to the requirements of national policies and meeting the upstream and downstream needs of the supply chain, ESG issues such as pollutants and waste, energy management and climate change can also reduce the operational risks and costs of enterprises, promote the diversification of income structure, and improve the profitability and valuation level through the influence mechanism of dual importance and the internal drive of central soes. In order to realize the value reconstruction of central state-owned enterprises.

► Cost reduction and efficiency increase

Central soes can start from several sub-environmental issues such as material and energy consumption and management, and greenhouse gas emissions to achieve cost reduction and efficiency, and enhance enterprise value. By strengthening the management of energy and carbon emissions and optimizing the production process, the central state-owned enterprises can reduce the consumption of electricity and raw materials while increasing the efficiency of energy utilization, thereby reducing the cost of production and raw materials, helping to improve the profitability of enterprises and improve the fundamental performance.

At the same time, starting from the issue of waste and pollutants, on the one hand, non-standard pollution emissions will generate environmental pollution taxes and pollution fines, which will increase the cost of enterprises. On the other hand, failure to meet environmental protection standards may lead to the interruption of enterprise business licenses, affecting normal operations, and thus affecting fundamental performance and valuation.中国数字化转型网www.szhzxw.cn

Refer to Figure 38 for the performance of central soes in various environmental subdivisions.

Central soes are ahead of non-central soes in projects such as pollutants and environmental governance compliance, while they still need to improve their performance in projects directly related to cost reduction and efficiency increase, such as material and energy consumption. Central state-owned enterprises in some traditional industries with heavy emissions have begun to take the lead in making changes.

Chart 42: Baowu Steel’s excellent practices on environmental issues enhance corporate value

Source: Baosteel ESG Report, CICC Research Department

For example, Baowu Group actively responds to the dual-carbon policy and energy conservation and consumption reduction, by improving the process, reducing the proportion of long-process blast furnace steelmaking, and gradually switching to short-process electric furnace steelmaking, reducing carbon emissions and energy consumption, and reducing operating costs. At the same time, by strengthening the material consumption management, improve the recycling rate of slag scrap steel, reduce the use of raw materials. While achieving a low-carbon transition, it improves the environmental performance of steel companies while reducing production costs, helping to improve profitability and market value.

Figure 43: Climate change scores of central state-owned enterprises and other types of enterprises

Source: Research Department, CICC

► Climate transition risks

The risks of climate transition include the uncertainties and potential adjustment costs of enterprises due to carbon emission restriction policies, carbon market trading, and energy structure adjustment. Since 2020, central soes have consistently scored lower on climate change than non-central soes. With the accelerated pace of low-carbon transformation and the international attention on climate risks, central state-owned enterprises should actively cope with the risks of climate transformation. By conducting climate risk stress tests, increasing the proportion of clean energy and reducing emissions and other measures, they should protect their assets and interests, adapt to the needs of low-carbon economic development, and improve their competitiveness and sustainability. Thereby improving fundamental performance and valuation levels.中国数字化转型网www.szhzxw.cn

► Green revenue

Central state-owned enterprises can realize the growth of green income by developing green industries, vigorously developing renewable energy, applying innovative environmental protection technologies, strengthening clean production and other green industries to obtain preferential subsidies, issue green bonds with low interest rates, and obtain additional income by participating in carbon market quota trading, green electricity and green certificate trading, etc. This part of the income helps to diversify the income structure of the central state-owned enterprises, bring new growth points, and realize value reconstruction.

本文摘自：2023年7月18日已经发布的《ESG视角看央国企价值重塑》

分析员 刘均伟 SAC 执业证书编号：S0080520120002 SFC CE Ref：BQR365

联系人 金   成 SAC 执业证书编号：S0080122030152

分析员 黄凯松 SAC 执业证书编号：S0080521070010 SFC CE Ref：BRQ876

分析员 周萧潇 SAC 执业证书编号：S0080521010006 SFC CE Ref：BRA090

分析员 王   政 SAC 执业证书编号：S0080521050013 SFC CE Ref：BRI454

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