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Since 2007, the concept of “impact investing” has gradually united a group of investors who invest for positive and measurable sustainable impact alongside a financial return. Since then, impact investing has also begun to gain its foothold in China along with the growing demand of government, market and the younger generation.

However, impact investing in China is still facing a multitude of challenges such as lack of awareness from mainstream commercial investors and lack of discussion on materiality. China Alliance of Social Value Investment (CASVI) research team initiated a project in January 2020, to provide ideas and possibilities for different actors in China to engage in material impact investing and find innovative strategies suitable for the Chinese market. It includes interviews with asset experts and practitioners as cases presenting cutting-edge practices of impact investing, with a specific focus in Asia and China.

This report includes 20 interviews conducted in English and confirmed translations from interviews conducted in Chinese, divided into three sections of Ecosystem Builders, Asset Managers, and Asset Owners. International impact investors, such as Ford Foundation, Summa Equity and ABC World Asia, shared their perspectives for impact investing as a whole and insights for China. Pioneering domestic impact investors in China, such as Narada Foundation, Venture Avenue, and Bits x Bites, also shared how they built development pathway of impact investment.

We hope this report could help international audience understand better about the field of impact investing, and especially the current progress of impact investing in China.