Abstract: There are many soft laws that can guide and regulate the ESG information disclosure of listed companies. It is formulated and implemented by non-state entities like industry associations, international organizations and rating agencies, which can solve the problems of abstraction, lagging behind and rigidity of hard laws in ESG disclosure, play the role of supplement and transformation, and respond to practical needs. The ESG soft law does not rely on the national force for protection, but realizes its normative force through the financing-affecting reputation mechanism, the market pricing implemented by internal rules, the external effect of signal transmission, and the reverse support of hard law. Therefore, the improvement of the soft law governance of China’s ESG disclosure can be explored from the perspective of the joint efforts of multiple parties in the market. In detail, the exchanges should enhance their authority and promote regulatory competition; the key state-owned enterprises should take the lead in promoting the network effect for which the soft law is applicable; the soft law should harden itself by supporting the hard law and refining the consequences; the institutional and individual investors and information intermediaries should improve the participation of ESG, so as to strengthen the normative effect of the soft law disclosure.

Key words: ESG, information disclosure, soft law, securities market, listed companies