最佳企业管治及ESG大奖2025
The Hong Kong Institute of CPAs successfully concluded its Best Corporate Governance and ESG Awards 2025 with the presentation luncheon ceremony held at the JW Marriott Hotel on 31 October 2025.
Dr. Kelvin Wong, SBS, JP, chairman of the Securities and Futures Commission, who was the guest of honour of the ceremony, and the president of the Institute and the chair of the judging panel, Mr. Edward Au, presented the trophies to the winning companies and public sector organizations (PSOs) at the presentation ceremony of the Institute’s Best Corporate Governance and ESG Awards 2025 (the Awards), which were the 25th anniversary Awards (see the press release). These included the winners of the top level accolades, the Most Sustainable Organizations (MSO) Awards, which recognize listed companies and PSOs that demonstrate excellence in both corporate governance (CG) and environmental, social and governance (ESG) practices and disclosures, and are integrating these two elements into their values, strategies, and operations. At the next level, separate awards for CG and ESG also continued to be made available.
Dr. Wong said in his speech: "As a capital market regulator, I cannot over-emphasize the importance of governance and ESG principles to Hong Kong’s listing market quality. For any businesses, an effective governance framework entails a virtuous circle of business performance, reporting transparency and investor trust. Going forward, in order to sustain Hong Kong’s financial success, my vision is for all of us to continue to raise the standards of both corporate governance and ESG. This requires unwavering commitment to collaboration from regulators, issuers, intermediaries and financial professionals, which will ensure the city stays at the forefront of global developments.”
He continued, “I would like to congratulate all the winners today. You have demonstrated excellence in integrating governance and ESG principles into your corporate values, strategies and operations. Your shining success will inspire many to follow while challenging others to step up their acts.”
Mr. Edward Au, who also spoke at the event, said:
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“Good governance and ethical leadership, anchored in long-term sustainability, serve as a vital port in turbulent times for both investors and stakeholders. Celebrating the 25th anniversary, the Institute’s Awards honour companies and organizations that exemplify transparency, robust risk management, and a steadfast commitment to ESG practices, setting benchmarks and leading the way for Hong Kong’s business community.”
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“In the future, the HKICPA will continue to champion good CG and ESG practices and reporting to safeguard Hong Kong’s leading status as an international financial centre.”
The speakers expressed appreciation of the invaluable contributions made by the judges, reviewers, the Institute’s management staff, and others involved in helping to ensure the success of the Awards. They also thanked the supporting organizations, many of which provided judges and reviewers, and a number of which also generously provided financial sponsorship, and also the artificial intelligence (AI) services provider and sponsor. They further thanked the media sponsors of the Awards. All are recognized in the Judges’ Report.
The event was again MC-ed adeptly by Mr. Adam Wong, who gave a brief overview of the Awards process before introducing the representatives from the winning companies and organizations, who went up on the stage to receive their trophies from the guest of honour and the Institute’s president.
A record number of 39 companies and PSOs received awards, including 9 first-time awardees, highlighting the ongoing enhancement of CG and ESG standards among Hong Kong entities, which will further bolster global investor confidence and reinforce the city’s position as an international financial centre. The efforts of the winners to continuously enhance their performance helps to establish new benchmarks of high-quality CG and ESG practices in Hong Kong. In addition to the record number of companies and PSOs receiving awards, total of 14 listed companies and PSOs, also a record number, received MSO Awards, which are the highest accolade in the competition. CLP Holdings Limited and Standard Chartered PLC received the platinum awards in the new “Elite Past Winners” section and “Main Categories” section, respectively. Additionally, Kerry Properties Limited and Shui On Land Limited were the two new MSO awardees.
In addition to the MSO Awards, as noted above, separate CG and ESG Awards were retained, to recognize listed companies and PSOs that excel specifically in one of these two aspects. In the CG Awards, there were a total of 11 winning listed companies and PSOs, including three first-time awardees – Samsonite Group S.A., The Hong Kong Mortgage Corporation Limited, and Hong Kong Cyberport Management Company Limited. In the ESG Awards category, there were a total of 14 winning listed companies and PSOs, including first-time awardees – Power Assets Holdings Limited, China Gas Holdings Limited, KLN Logistics Group Limited and Champion REIT. In another new section of the competition, for newly-listed companies (i.e. companies listed on the Main Board between 2022-25), ZJLD Group Inc. and REPT BATTERO Energy Co., Ltd., received ESG Special Mentions in the Medium Market Capitalization Category and Small Market Capitalization Category, respectively. Both of these companies are also first-time winners in the Awards.
The full list of winners can be found in the Judges’ Report, which, in addition, contains observations on current standards of CG and ESG practices in Hong Kong, explanations of new features in the 2025 Awards, and other relevant information, including 25th anniversary messages to the Institute from some of Hong Kong’s most prominent listed companies and PSOs. You can also access our Gallery for more photographs taken at the presentation ceremony.
Directors, chief financial officers and other senior management staff were among representatives of the winning companies and organizations who attended the Awards luncheon to receive the trophies.
The Awards were launched in 2000. Originally called the Best Corporate Governance Awards, the competition focused initially on CG disclosures only. In 2011, we first introduced an award for sustainability and social responsibility reporting, which was quickly extended to all the size categories of listed companies and PSOs in the competition and later renamed the ESG Awards. They have since become a mainstay of the Awards. In a 2021 revamp, we introduced the MSO Awards, recognizing those entities that integrate good CG and ESG practices into their organization culture and operations. This year, for listed companies, we presented only Special Mentions in the standalone CG and ESG Awards — not because standards have dropped, but because we want to encourage companies, especially large companies, to embrace a more integrated approach to their CG and ESG performance and so compete for MSO Awards.
The Awards are among Hong Kong’s most prestigious business-related competitions, setting benchmarks of best practice in CG and ESG for listed companies and PSOs, and fostering improvements in overall standards. They enjoy strong support from the government, financial market regulators, investor groups, the business and professional community and academia. They emphasize the need for organizations to be transparent and accountable and to engage shareholders, investors and other stakeholders, including the communities in which they operate. The objective is, ultimately, to support Hong Kong’s continued development as an international financial and business centre, as the Institute is firmly of the view that upholding high standards of governance and sustainability, in both the business and public sectors, is critical to maintaining Hong Kong’s standing and reputation.
This year, AI was used for the first time to assist in the initial screening of over 680 annual and a similar number of ESG reports of listed companies, effectively covering all the Hang Seng Composite LargeCap, MidCap and SmallCap companies, and aiming to facilitate a faster, more extensive and objective analysis. The focus of the Awards is on the voluntary adoption of standards of practices and disclosures that significantly exceed the minimum legal and regulatory requirements and go well beyond mere compliance. While the immediate source of information is annual reports and sustainability/ ESG reports, at the in-depth review and judging stages of the competition, the reviewers and judges are aiming to use this information to assess the underlying culture and practices of the relevant organizations. Ultimately, they are trying to identify companies and PSOs that demonstrate a strong CG and ESG culture, and a commitment to long-term sustainable success. This being the case, they will also take account of other public information, such as news reports, that may provide further evidence of how individual companies and PSOs are being run in practice.
Brief study on greenhouse gas emissions reporting by large-cap companies
To evaluate the preparedness of listed companies for the recent changes in the Environmental, Social and Governance Reporting Code (Appendix C2 of the Listing Rules) and the future application of international/ Hong Kong sustainability disclosure standards, issued by the International Sustainability Disclosure Standards Board and the Institute, respectively, alongside the Awards this year, the Institute conducted a brief study on carbon emissions disclosure and ESG assurance, focusing on the 105 constituent companies of the Hang Seng Composite LargeCap Index. The study also asked whether companies have made carbon neutrality/ net zero commitments, contributing to regional and national carbon neutrality goals.
The findings of the study, which covered 2024/25 sustainability/ ESG reports, revealed that 66% of the surveyed companies reported Scope 3 emissions to some extent. This compares with only 50% of large-cap companies in HKEX’s analysis of 2023/24 reporting1, indicating that more large companies are gearing up for the coming regulatory changes. While 62% of the companies surveyed have set carbon neutrality or net-zero targets, only 27% included comprehensive Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions in their goals. Although 66% of companies obtained external assurance for their emissions data (compared with 41% of large-cap companies obtaining some ESG assurance in the Institute’s 2023 study2), only 25% of these obtained assurance on their Scope 3 emissions reporting.
The Institute believes that enhanced transparency and independent assurance for sustainability-related data are important for building credibility and supporting Hong Kong’s leadership in sustainable business practices. Based on the finding of the study, the Institute made several specific recommendations for improving carbon-emissions and related disclosures.
Please refer to our study, Carbon Emissions Disclosure & Assurance: Benchmarking Large Cap Companies, for details.
2HKICPA, ESG Assurance in Hong Kong: An evolving landscape (2023)
