China-based insurance company Ping An announced that it is developing a series of ESG tools for issuers and investors, along with its macroeconomic research arm, Ping An Digital Economic Research Center (PADERC). The company said that its initiatives come as companies in China are improving their ESG reporting, and regulators are expected to introduce mandated ESG disclosures. According to the company, this presents an opportunity for technology companies to provide data solutions with artificial intelligence (AI).

Chex Yu, Deputy Director of Strategy of Ping An Technology, said:

“Many companies are willing to improve their ESG disclosure but lack the expertise and resources to do so. Meanwhile, investors are increasingly integrating ESG into their investment decisions, but are faced with limited data points.”

The new solutions being developed by Ping An include climate risk assessment and pricing models (in a partnership between PADERC and Imperial College London), disclosure quality assessment tools, and a proprietary ESG ratings framework, incorporating both global and China standards. Additionally, Ping An stated that it is developing its own AI-ESG Management Platform, currently in use by its own subsidiaries, that can help companies with ESG data collection, performance evaluation, task management and peer benchmark comparison.

Chex Yu added:

“The pain points for wider ESG adoption present market opportunities for technology companies to provide solutions that make disclosure easier for companies, using artificial intelligence to improve availability of non-disclosure-based data.”