Ant Group’s ESG strategy aims to support 100 million SMEs by 2030
1.6.2022 06:07:00 EEST | Business Wire | Press release
Ant Group, a global technology provider, today announced its Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) strategy as part of its latest sustainability report. The ESG strategy, which lays out Ant Group’s sustainable development objectives by 2030, will be implemented across all aspects of the Company’s operations.
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220531006112/en/
Four pillars of Ant Group’s ESG strategy and objectives by 2030 (Graphic: Business Wire)
Ant Group’s ESG strategy is focused around four pillars: Digital Inclusion, Green and Low-carbon Development, Open Ecosystem, and Technological Innovation. Each of the pillars has a corresponding sustainable development objective by 2030:
- Digital Inclusion: support 100 million small and micro-sized enterprises (SMEs) and serve communities globally
- Green and Low-carbon Development: achieve corporate carbon neutrality and support business partners and the general public to significantly reduce their carbon footprint
- Open Ecosystem: continue to provide a safe, trusted, diversified and open ecosystem to drive common development with partners
- Technological Innovation: continue to invest in core technology research and development to provide world-leading technological products and services
"We believe these are the most important pillars for Ant Group to achieve sustainable growth in a future-facing, responsible, and responsive manner,” wrote Eric Jing, Ant Group’s Chairman and CEO, in the sustainability report. ”This framework will guide Ant Group’s value creation and sustainable development in the future.”
Ant Group formulated its ESG strategy based on a comprehensive assessment of changing macro environment and policy trends, its own development strengths, and inputs from the Company’s stakeholders, including customers, users, employees, partners and governments. The ESG strategy was finalized after extensive management discussions and a detailed Board review.
After solicitating feedback from stakeholders, Ant Group defined 19 material issues for its ESG strategy, ranging from “responsible products and services,” “facilitating industry-wide carbon neutrality,” “cutting-edge technology discovery and R&D” and “transparency & risk management.”
To provide organizational support to effectively implement the ESG strategy, the Company’s Board of Directors has approved the establishment of an ESG sustainable development committee, comprised of a subset of the Board, responsible for decision-making supervision, risk management and policy making. The Company is setting up an advisory committee consisting of internal and external ESG experts to provide input and support. Ant Group has also set up an ESG sustainable development leadership team, led by the CEO and the Chief Sustainability Officer, as well as working groups for each of the 19 ESG material issues.
“Our ESG strategy originated from our own long-term needs and was not a spur-of-the-moment decision. The pursuit of sustainable development has been inherent in every step of our journey and is not designed to cater to short-term trends, but rather a necessary driver to realize our vision to be a good company that will last for at least 102 years,” added Mr. Jing. “A good company is never independently defined. We will listen to the opinions and suggestions from all parties with an open mind and welcome supervision and guidance from all of our stakeholders.”
As part of its “Technological Innovation” pillar, Ant Group has been increasing its R&D investments, which grew at an annual rate of more than 39% for three consecutive years (2018-2021), with total R&D spending in 2021 exceeding RMB 18.8 billion (approx. USD 2.77 billion). These investments enabled the Company to continuously turn technological breakthroughs into innovative, inclusive and reliable products and services to support the digital transformation of industries and better anticipate the evolving needs of an increasingly digital global economy. In 2021, MYbank, an Ant Group associate and an online SME bank, leveraged digital technology to deliver convenient, accessible and responsible collateral-free financing services to 45 million SMEs.
In February 2022, Ant Group was recognized as a Top 100 Global Innovator™ 2022 by Clarivate™. This prestigious annual list identifies global companies and institutions that contribute new ideas, solve problems and create new economic value.
Since 2017, three years after Ant Group’s establishment, the Company has steadily introduced and advanced its ESG assessment framework and published an annual sustainability report, compiled according to the Global Reporting Initiative standards. These reports, including the latest 2021 edition with the Company’s ESG strategy, can be found on Ant Group’s website (Chinese only for now, English edition will be online in the coming weeks).
About Ant Group
Ant Group aims to build the infrastructure and platforms to support the digital transformation of the service industry. Through continuous innovation, we strive to provide all consumers and small and micro businesses equal access to digital financial and other daily life services that are convenient, sustainable and inclusive.
For more information, please visit our website at www.antgroup.com or follow us on Twitter @AntGroup.
To view this piece of content from cts.businesswire.com, please give your consent at the top of this page.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220531006112/en/
Contact information
Media Inquiries
Le SHEN
Shenle.sl@antgroup.com
About Business Wire
For more than 50 years, Business Wire has been the global leader in press release distribution and regulatory disclosure.
Subscribe to releases from Business Wire
Subscribe to all the latest releases from Business Wire by registering your e-mail address below. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Latest releases from Business Wire
SPIE Announces 2027 Prism Awards Finalists for Best Photonics Products4.11.2026 22:22:00 EET | Press release
SPIE, the international society for optics and photonics, has announced finalists in the seven categories for the 2027 Prism Awards, which recognize remarkable new photonics products on the market. Winners will be announced during the awards ceremony at SPIE Photonics West on 3 February 2027 in San Francisco, California. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20261104613876/en/ SPIE has announced the finalists for the 2027 SPIE Prism Awards, which recognize optics and photonics innovations. Recipients will be announced at the awards ceremony on 3 February 2027 at SPIE Photonics West. During the Prism Awards, SPIE will also announce the winner of the SPIE Catalyst Award, honoring a for-profit company with social or environmental programs that have made significant advances in workplace opportunity, community engagement, or environmental progress. Finalists for this year’s Catalyst Award, now in its fourth year, are Lume
Every Critical System Should Have a Backup: Elliptic Opens Up Fast Track Monitoring to the Crypto Industry4.11.2026 22:07:00 EET | Press release
Elliptic, the leader in on-chain risk management, is making Fast Track Monitoring available to firms with digital assets exposure as a back up screening option for firms that need business continuity, if their primary screening service is unavailable and they need a second option. Criminals are increasingly using AI to scale their attacks, so on-chain risk now moves at machine speed. Compliance teams need the broadest range of options to keep screening every wallet and transaction, and a second screening provider builds resilience into any on-chain risk management approach. Elliptic recommends every business has one in place. Organizations that rely on a single screening vendor can also still need a second option. Fast Track Monitoring gives compliance teams real-time wallet and transaction screening powered by Elliptic Lens, with a clear, explainable risk score on every wallet and transaction. When screening stops, a compliance lead faces two hard choices: hold customer withdrawals, o
Smartsheet Adds New AI Agents, Integrations and Security Advancements at ENGAGE 20264.11.2026 20:00:00 EET | Press release
Smartsheet, the AI-powered enterprise work management platform, today announced new platform capabilities at ENGAGE 2026, its annual customer conference. The company introduced new AI agents, agentic workflows, system integrations and security controls built to end execution drift: the costly gap between what an organization sets out to deliver and what it actually delivers. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20261104562370/en/ Today, Smartsheet introduced new AI agents, agentic workflows, system integrations and security controls built to end execution drift. AI has helped teams move faster, but it is also widening execution drift. As AI agents join people, partners and systems in doing the work, three problems keep that distance from closing. Data is scattered across disconnected tools, so no one sees the full picture. AI is arriving faster than IT can govern it, so leaders hesitate to scale it. Most AI also lack
MultiBank Exchange Holding Forms Predominantly Emirati Board as Platform Records US$500 Billion in Monthly Trading Volume4.11.2026 19:54:00 EET | Press release
MultiBank Group has announced the formation of a predominantly Emirati Board of Directors for MultiBank Exchange Holding, the first interbank trading platform in the BRICS and emerging countries, which achieved in October 2026 a turnover of over US$ 0.5 Trillion. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20261104483253/en/ Naser Taher, Chairman of MultiBank Exchange Holding, announced the board which comprises: H.H. Sheikh Juma bin Maktoum bin Juma Al Maktoum, Board Member; H.E. Sheikh Mohammed bin Saqr bin Rashid Al Nuaimi, Board Member; H.E. Mohammed Al Hakim, Vice Chairman of the Board; H.E. Ali bin Khalid bin Zayed Al Falasi, Board Member; H.E. Rashid Sultan Al Malik, Board Member; Mr. Majid Al Ghaslan, Board Member; and Mr. David Ogg, Board Member. Naser Taher, Chairman of MultiBank Exchange Holding, announced the board which comprises: H.H. Sheikh Juma bin Maktoum bin Juma Al Maktoum, Board Member. H.E. Sheikh Moham
Smartsheet Unveils vsActual: The AI-Native Platform that Connects Strategy to Execution at ENGAGE 20264.11.2026 19:00:00 EET | Press release
Smartsheet, the AI-powered enterprise work management platform, today unveiled a new AI-native strategic planning and execution product at ENGAGE 2026, its annual customer conference. vsActual is designed to solve the two biggest obstacles to enterprise execution: siloed work scattered across disconnected systems and teams, and the manual tracking and reporting that keeps individuals and executives from seeing problems until it’s too late. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20261104989965/en/ Today, Smartsheet unveiled a new AI-native strategic planning and execution product, vsActual. AI is helping individuals move faster than ever, but it's also making it harder to keep everyone moving in the same direction. In fact, a PMI research report found that leaders cited the disconnect between planning and execution as the biggest barrier to reinventing their businesses, and VentureBeat Intelligence found that 64% of res
In our pressroom you can read all our latest releases, find our press contacts, images, documents and other relevant information about us.
Visit our pressroom