According to the latest MSCI ESG rating, Meituan maintained its 'A' rating. While this is lower than JD.com's 'AA' rating, it surpasses Alibaba's 'BBB' rating. The "Meituan 2024 ESG Report" is the company's seventh such report since its 2018 listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Compiled in accordance with the HKEX's "ESG Reporting Guide," the report features a clear framework and comprehensive content but still shows deficiencies in disclosure depth and long-term goal planning. Although the report identifies key issues through materiality analysis and, for the first time, clearly segments them into environmental, social, and governance dimensions, its overall narrative leans towards compliance-driven responses and initiative descriptions, lacking systematic expression in quantified targets, trend comparisons, and performance attribution.

Image Source: Meituan 2024 ESG Report

Governance Dimension: Structure Formed, Transparency Lacking. The report indicates that Meituan has established a three-tier ESG governance structure of "Governance — Management — Execution," with the Board of Directors serving as the highest decision-making body responsible for topic assessment, strategy formulation, and progress oversight. The company's institutional development in information security, risk assessment, and compliance management is relatively robust. However, disclosures in the governance dimension still tend towards macro-level descriptions, lacking transparency regarding key mechanisms. 

Environmental Dimension: Low-Carbon System Taking Shape, Scope 3 Data Not Yet Disclosed. Meituan continues to deepen its green transition and promote green development within its industrial chain. The report details specific initiatives in areas like green offices, environmental management for retail operations, and data center environmental management, alongside disclosed environmental performance data. In 2024, the company's Scope 1 emissions were 78.29 tons, and Scope 2 emissions were 264,275.94 tons. However, while the ESG report mentions "initiating carbon accounting work covering Scope 3 emissions," it does not yet disclose Scope 3 data, nor has it set clear medium to long-term carbon neutrality or net-zero targets. The absence of this key data makes it difficult for investors to fully assess its climate risks and environmental impact.

This year, Meituan released the "Meituan Green Hills Plan Eighth Anniversary Progress Report." Since its launch in 2017, the plan has continuously deepened its efforts across four areas: green ecology, low-carbon consumption, Green Hills technology, and Green Hills public welfare, establishing itself as a distinctive low-carbon action program within the industry.

Image Source: Meituan Green Hills Plan Eighth Anniversary Progress Report

Social Dimension: Compared to internal employee rights, rider protection remains the most scrutinized aspect of Meituan's ESG narrative. A review of Meituan's past ESG reports reveals that the company first placed riders among "key stakeholders" and added "Rider Health and Safety" to its materiality matrix in the 2021 report. In the 2024 report, Meituan continues to list riders as a "key stakeholder," but for the first time places them at the top of the list. Within the materiality matrix, "Rider Health and Safety" holds the same "highly important" status as "Information Security and Privacy Protection." Meituan states it continuously protects rider rights and interests through four main directions: improving safeguards, ensuring safety, enhancing the work experience, and implementing care measures.

Unlike the annual "Meituan Rider Rights Protection Social Responsibility Report" typically released in the first quarter, this July, Meituan published the "Meituan Rider Annual Occupational Report (2024-2025)," covering the period from January 1, 2024, to June 30, 2025. Regarding social security, in July 2022, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security (MOHRSS) and other departments launched an occupational injury protection pilot in seven provinces and municipalities, including Beijing and Shanghai. Meituan is one of the pilot companies for rider insurance. Meituan stated that by the end of the reporting period, it had paid 1.5 billion RMB in premiums for nearly 7 million riders in the pilot regions. Guided by MOHRSS, Meituan plans to expand the coverage to 17 provinces and municipalities this year.

Following the recent draft "Basic Requirements for Online Food Delivery Platform Service Management" issued by the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) for public comment, and amidst fierce market competition and ongoing regulatory scrutiny, Meituan's actions in the social security sphere have been particularly notable this year. Recently, Meituan announced that starting in November, it will provide pension insurance subsidies for riders nationwide, achieving nationwide coverage of the social security subsidy two months earlier than expected. Provided their platform income meets the local social security contribution base for three months within the recent six months, riders can independently purchase pension insurance, with the platform subsidizing half the cost. This is the industry's first social security subsidy scheme open to all riders, also providing a referenceable participation path for the flexible workforce. Meituan also plans to fully eliminate overtime penalties by the end of 2025, exploring a new model of "using a points system instead of negative deductions," and has launched features like "blocking malicious users" and a "Rider Grievance Care Program," reflecting institutional improvements under pressure from public opinion and regulatory compliance.

However, Meituan consistently positions riders as part of its supply chain. In the section on "Delivery Rider Management and Protection," the ESG report still states, "Our platform delivery services require a large number of delivery riders to assist in completion. Paying attention to the safety and protection of riders' rights is an important part of our supply chain risk management and social responsibility fulfillment." Compared to earlier reports that directly stated, "Delivery riders are full-time employees or contractors of our delivery partners. We do not have employment agreements with the delivery riders, and the delivery riders are not our employees," the descriptions in recent reports are more nuanced, but the underlying management model relying on delivery partners remains unchanged. While this model offers flexibility, it also brings governance challenges. For instance, on the Black Cat Complaint platform, complaints about station masters "abusing their power" or "imposing arbitrary fines" are common.

Regarding customer service, the report states that in 2024, the company handled a total of 966,653 user complaints, accounting for 0.09% of total service transactions, with 92.4% processed within 3 business days. However, it does not disclose customer satisfaction rates or complaint type analysis, indicating that its social performance disclosure remains somewhat "static," lacking trend analysis and improvement pathways.

Overall, Meituan's ESG disclosure has initially formed a dual-track pattern: the ESG report responds to regulatory requirements, while the corporate social responsibility report addresses public concerns. Performance in the social dimension is prominent, with the rider rights protection system continuously improving. However, transparency in the governance dimension is relatively low, and Scope 3 carbon emissions in the environmental dimension have not been disclosed. The company still needs to enhance data granularity, comparability, and forward-looking targets.

Author：Qinger