The final evaluation meeting of the Child-Friendly Financial Products Research Project was held at the Central University of Finance and Economics, or CUFE, in Beijing on July 30. It was co-hosted by the UNICEF China and CUFE's International Institute of Green Finance (IIGF). Participants included Amanda Bissex, deputy representative of the UNICEF China, Hyun Hee Ban, chief of Public Partnerships at the UNICEF China, Wang Hongmei, assistant to the president of CUFE and director of the National Academy of Financial and Economic Strategy, as well as the heads of various departments.

The meeting focused on key topics such as the feasibility study, policy framework and implementation paths for child-friendly financial products. It aimed to promote the deep integration of financial innovation with social goals and to better incorporate the concept of the protection of children's rights into economic development and investment decision-making systems.

Proceedings get underway at the meeting

In her speech, Amanda Bissex stated that while sustainable finance had rapidly developed globally in recent years, children's issues had not received sufficient attention within existing financing frameworks. She pointed out that only 2.4 percent of global multilateral climate financing was specifically allocated to address the unique vulnerabilities and related needs of children. Research into this actively promoted the localization of UNICEF's child-focused investment framework, and it was committed to establishing China's first child-themed Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) and a related index system.

In her address, Wang Hongmei emphasized that building a child-friendly environment was an important public welfare project to ensure the healthy growth of minors and to promote high-quality social development. It was also a significant component of advancing the process of modernization with Chinese characteristics. She stated that CUFE would continue to deepen its research into such areas as inclusive finance and child-friendly finance — and promote the application of more innovative research outcomes to contribute wisdom and strength to the high-quality development of child-friendly initiatives in China.

During the meeting, Liu Qilun, a researcher at the IIGF, presented a detailed report on the final outcomes of the Child-Friendly Financial Products Research Project.

Roundtable discussions focus on important subjects

The roundtable discussions were chaired by Liu Feng, chief economist of the IIGF, and Shao Shanshan, associate professor at CUFE's School of Foreign Studies and director of the International Cooperation and Development Research Center at the IIGF. Experts engaged in in-depth exchanges on the overall framework, core conclusions, and policy recommendations of the research report, including those from the National Financial Regulatory Administration, the Research Institute of the People's Bank of China and the UNICEF Asia-Pacific Regional Office. Others included experts from the Sino-Securities Index Information Service (Shanghai) Co Ltd, China Galaxy Securities, Huaxia Wealth Management, the Yinhua Fund and the Climate Bonds Initiative (CBI). They also provided constructive opinions on key topics such as the definition boundaries of child-friendly financial products, index compilation methods, information disclosure requirements, the management of investor suitability, and the synergistic effects of climate action and child welfare.

In her concluding remarks, Hyun Hee Ban noted that the evaluation meeting involved in-depth exchanges on policy coordination, index construction, product design and market implementation of child-friendly finance. Moving forwards, UNICEF will continue to deepen its cooperation with the IIGF and various partners to promote the integration of research results with policy-making and market practice, and explore effective ways for financial tools to support the protection of children's rights and the enhancement of child welfare.

Wang Yao, director of the IIGF, stated that child-friendly finance was an innovative exploration in the field of sustainable finance. The IIGF would continue to delve into this area, exploring paths for innovation in child-friendly indices and financial products, and contribute its think tank expertise to building a more inclusive and sustainable financial system.

Writers: DUAN Danchen, MA Ziyi

Reviewers: WANG Hongmei, ZHANG Jian

Editors: WANG Xinyu

Approvers: HUO Xiaoran