China’s Ministry of Finance (MoF) issued the “Sustainability Information Assurance Services Standards No. 6101 — Basic Standards (Trial)” (hereinafter referred to as the Standards) in January 2026, following the launch of the Corporate Sustainability Disclosure Standards series in 2024-2025. This establishes a unified regulatory framework for sustainability assurance in China, filling a national regulatory gap in the market and completing the institutional chain from corporate sustainability disclosure to third-party verification.
The Standards aim to provide consistent rules for conducting sustainability assurance engagements, to enhance the credibility of sustainability-related information, and to advance a standardised and professionalised sustainability disclosure and assurance system aligned with China’s green and low-carbon development goals.
They aim to improve the reliability and comparability of verified sustainability information, enabling better investor decisions and capital flows toward green and sustainable initiatives.
Scope and structure
The Standards consist of 18 chapters and 228 articles, serving as foundational, industry-wide standards. They apply to all third-party institutions – including accounting firms, certification bodies, and consulting firms – conducting sustainability assurance engagements.
The Standards address the full assurance lifecycle: engagement acceptance, planning, execution, and reports. They mandate quality management, professional ethics, and independence, and provide detailed and operational guidance for assurance practices.
Core principles and global alignment
The Standards’ development followed three core principles:
- Prioritising public interest protection: enhancing the credibility of sustainability information and data.
- Highlighting sustainability assurance characteristics.
- Balancing domestic practice with international convergence: incorporating key elements of international assurance standards while reflecting China’s green development priorities and regulatory requirements.
At the current stage, the Standards are issued on a trial basis and adopt a phased rollout, characterised by voluntary application, pilot programmes, and gradual expansion. This approach is intended to avoid one-size-fits-all mandates and to allow market participants sufficient time to build capacity.
Reference: Original policy
The sustainability information assurance services regulated by these Standards refer to the engagement in which an assurance service provider accepts a commission, performs assurance procedures on the sustainability information prepared by the audited entity in accordance with disclosure standards such as the Corporate Sustainability Disclosure Standards, obtains sufficient and appropriate assurance evidence, forms an assurance conclusion, and issues an assurance report. The objective of such services is to enhance the confidence of users of sustainability information in the said information.
