According to the “Outline of the New Development Strategy” of the Company announced in October 2021, the Company has taken “Lower Carbon Empower Better Life” as its mission, aiming to achieve the vision of becoming a “World-class Green and Low-carbon Energy Provider”. The Company will stay committed to green, innovative and high-quality development with a focus on promoting sustainable and rapid development of clean and low carbon energy such as photovoltaic power, wind power, hydropower, geothermal energy and biomass energy. Proactive efforts have been made to nurture emerging industries of green energy, including energy storage, green power transportation and integrated intelligent energy, optimize and reduce existing coal-fired power assets comprehensively, as well as increase the proportion of clean energy installed capacity at a faster pace so as to realize the “dual wheel drive” of clean and low carbon energy and emerging industries of green energy, thereby building a new energy ecosystem to facilitate the green and low carbon transformation of the economy and the society.
The Company will capitalize on the support from its parent companies to continue to acquire clean energy assets and projects from independent third parties and its parent companies, as and when appropriate, and at the same time identify other quality clean energy assets and projects for development with a view to creating more value for its shareholders and to achieve the goals under its new development strategy.
The Company announced its revised dividend policy in January 2019, which increased the amount of dividends from not less than 25% of the profit attributable to ordinary shareholders of the Company to not less than 50% of the profit attributable to ordinary shareholders of the Company. The Company will strictly implement the dividend policy, and determine the amount of dividends to be distributed based on actual operating performance for a given year.
For 2025, the China Electricity Council predicts the national power consumption to grow steadily by approximately 6% year-on-year. China’s newly installed capacity will maintain rapid growth and the increase in conventional power supply is expected to be basically in line with the rise in electricity load. The proportion of installed capacity from new energy power generation will continue to grow, and the uncertainty of wind, solar resources and water inflow will heighten the risk of electricity generation and supply in local areas during certain periods.
The Directors and management attach great importance to ESG and believe that ESG is of utmost importance to the future development of the Company. During the year, the Company has been fully recognized by mainstream international ESG rating agencies, capital markets, consultancy firms and authoritative media. In 2024, the Company’s ESG rating was upgraded to “BBB” by MSCI. In the S&P Global Corporate Sustainability Assessment, its score was also improved significantly and reached the leading level in China’s power generation industry. Moreover, the Company was selected as the “2024 Excellent Cases of Sustainable Development Practices of Listed Companies”, the “Excellent Case in ESG and Green Development” and an excellent case at the “Ernst & Young Sustainability Excellence Awards 2024”, which demonstrated its outstanding performance in the area of ESG. The Company will continue to optimize the ESG system and effectively respond to the concerns of diverse stakeholders through active information disclosure and proactive communication.
On 30 September 2024, the Company received an asset restructuring proposal from SPIC for the proposed subscription of the new shares to be allotted by Yuanda Environmental, in consideration of the controlling interests in certain subsidiaries of the Company which are principally engaged in hydropower business, namely Wu Ling Power and Changzhou Hydropower (“Proposed Asset Restructuring”). To follow up on the Proposed Asset Restructuring, the Company entered into two restructuring framework agreements with Yuanda Environmental on 18 October 2024, details of which are set out in the announcement of the same date. Prior to implementing the Proposed Asset Restructuring, the Company will carry out the Asset Pre-Restructuring of Wu Ling Power and Changzhou Hydropower as the target companies (“Proposed Asset Pre-Restructuring”), which included: (i) the external acquisitions by Wu Ling Power; (ii) the formation of joint ventures; and (iii) the intra-group reorganization. In relation to the external acquisitions by Wu Ling Power, the Company entered into the Wu Ling External Acquisitions Agreement with each of the relevant vendors respectively on 17 January 2025, details of which are set out in the announcement of the same date. If the Proposed Asset Pre-Restructuring and Proposed Asset Restructuring are implemented, the Company will become the controlling shareholder of Yuanda Environmental and the Company will continue to control Wu Ling Power and Changzhou Hydropower through Yuanda Environmental.
The Proposed Asset Restructuring will be conducive to expanding the scale of the Company’s new energy business and integrating regional new energy assets. It can further strengthen the integration and professional management of assets, expand the potential for business development, and enhance the profitability of the Company. In addition, the Proposed Asset Restructuring will help create a structure of a red chip company controlling an A-share company, give full play to the role as the connecting hub of the capital markets in Mainland China and Hong Kong, broaden and diversify financing channels, and support high-quality development. For updates on the Proposed Asset Pre-Restructuring and the Proposed Asset Restructuring, the Company will timely publish the progress and details of the relevant transactions on its official website and the HKEXnews website.