On March 16, 2023, Hurun Research Institute rolled out the 2022 Hurun China Private Companies SDG Readiness 100 List in Shanghai, unveiling the 100 Chinese private enterprises that are most in line with the UN's 17 Sustainable Development Goals. This is the second consecutive year that the institute has released this list. As a world leading circular economy and new energy enterprise, GEM was again among the top 10 on the list for its outstanding achievements in green and sustainable development after it made the first-edition list last year, tied for 7th with ByteDance, up one place from the previous edition. GEM is also the only environmental enterprise among the top 10 on this year's list.

The top 10 of the 2022 Hurun China Private Companies SDG Readiness 100 List

The list targets "Hurun China 500 Most Valuable Private Companies 2021" (the threshold is 32 billion yuan by market capitalization). The research information is based on the public information of enterprises and industries, including annual fiscal reports and ESG (environmental, social and governance) reports, CSR (corporate social responsibility) reports, and SDG (sustainable development goals) reports. Notably, this year's list includes more indicators under 17 dimensions, with a total of 56 rating points set, up 16 from last year, which enables a more comprehensive and balanced consideration to the sustainability of Chinese private enterprises.

According to the list, by 2021, GEM had built 16 waste recycling and new energy material parks in 11 provinces and municipalities across China with an operation range of 3,000 kilometers from northern China to southern China, formed cooperative relations with nearly 500 million people in terms of waste recycling, and disposed more than 5 million tons of waste each year.

Responsibility for green and low-carbon development: In the recent decade, GEM has invested more than 2.6 billion yuan in environmental protection, conducting a renovation campaign for green, safe, IT-based, high-tech, intelligent and education-oriented development in all the parks and plants of GEM. In 2021, GEM comprehensively reduced pollutant discharge, increased the revenues of its core business - carbon emission reduction by 57.71%, and reduced net carbon dioxide emissions by 60% year on year, so as to increase production without increasing pollution; GEM promoted the building of carbon-neutral plants in its Jingmen and Wuxi parks, and developed its Wuhan park into a pilot near zero emission park that has achieved initial results; GEM carried out an activity themed "Planting a neutral tree as part of GEM's 10,000-mu neutral forest", inviting all walks of life to plant trees and protect green with GEM's employees. By 2021, GEM had planted nearly 400,000 trees with a total area of about 5,000 mu, implementing its low carbon concept by action.

Chinese technologies for the world: In Indonesia, guided by the investment concept of "promoting the integrated development of industry, technology and culture", GEM has created a high-tech ecological demonstration park of "technology+intelligent+green", built Indonesia's first world advanced engineering technology innovation center for metallurgy and new energy materials, offered the first international master program of metallurgical engineering between China and Indonesia, and built Indonesia's first world-class nickel resources industry museum, opening a new page for Sino-Indonesian cultural exchanges, serving the national new energy development strategy of Indonesia, and growing with the Indonesian people.

Social responsibility for co-prosperity: GEM invested more than 200 million yuan in industrial support and rural revitalization in 2021, and has invested a total of more than 2 billion yuan in this respect over the past decade, creating more than 5,000 jobs for impoverished households, and helping counterpart villages open up a path of green and sustainable development.

Innovation-driven development: For long, GEM has made persistent efforts on R&D, and invested more than 990 million yuan in R&D in 2021, up 61% year on year. In the recent decade, GEM has constantly increased its R&D investment and invested a total of over 3.9 billion yuan in R&D, accounting for 90% of its net profit, becoming an advanced enterprise that dares to invest heavily in innovation and R&D in the industry.

In the future, GEM will stay focused on the UN's Sustainable Development Goals, play an exemplary role in achieving the "carbon peaking and carbon neutrality" goals and implementing the concept of sustainable development, comprehensively build new energy materials, circular economy and low-carbon industrial demonstration parks, and push for constant innovations and breakthroughs of China's economy amid all-round green and low-carbon transformation and development.