China's leading venture capital firm Qiming Venture Partners announced its recent signing of the United Nations-supported Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI). By signing the PRI, Qiming has joined an international network of over 5,000 signatories that share a mission to shape a global sustainable financial system that ensures growth for investors, enterprises, environment, and the wider society.
"The signing is a testimony to our commitment to Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) values as we practice responsible investment," said Duane Kuang, Founding Managing Partner of Qiming Venture Partners. "PRI provides us with a robust framework that integrates sustainability and ethical considerations into our investment and decision-making process. It strengthens our mission of promoting sustainable growth and creating positive social impact."
Benefiting from PRI's extensive array of investor tools, guidelines, case studies, collaborative engagement opportunities among others, Qiming plans to further advance its ESG approach, design and implement various initiatives, and submit annual reporting on activities and progress to PRI.
Qiming continues to demonstrate commitment to ESG principles and corporate social responsibility through meaningful actions. Within two primary sectors of investment - Technology & Consumer and Healthcare, Qiming proactively seeks investments in businesses that uphold and implement ESG values. This has led to the support for numerous efficient, energy-conscious, and eco-friendly companies, spanning new energy automotive ecosystems, automated machinery, and robotics. In healthcare investment, Qiming is focused on addressing unmet needs for global patients.
Since its establishment, Qiming has prioritized fostering female leadership within the organization and portfolio companies, driving gender equality in employment opportunities and career development. In recent years, Qiming has also initiated programs including the Charity Month and Employee Charity Leave, encouraging employees to engage with the community and contribute to public welfare by organizing and participating charitable activities on their own initiative, contributing to Qiming's ongoing ESG endeavors.
In December 2021, Qiming joined forces with China Rural Development Foundation to launch the "China Rural Revitalization Entrepreneur Support Program", under which Qiming commits to contribute RMB100 million in 10 years to fund initiatives aiming at training and empowering 2,000 rural entrepreneurs, fostering 40 social organizations across 40 counties to inspire rural development. The program has successfully empowered 683 entrepreneurs by the end of 2023, of which 20 entrepreneurs received seed funding, and it fostered 11 county-level social organizations across underdeveloped provinces such as Yunnan and Guizhou.
