THE Shenzhen bourse is encouraging its listed companies to compile social responsibility reports as it tries to beef up their corporate governance in line with international standards, industry sources said yesterday.

The stock exchange has planned to organize training seminars early next month to help public companies in how to issue reports over their involvement in shielding the interests of society, according to people familiar with the matter.

The Shenzhen Stock Exchange in September issued guidelines on how listed companies should compile CSR reports and urge them to unveil relevant information to the public.

Twenty-one out of 500-odd Shenzhen-listed firms have unveiled CSR reports with their 2006 annual financial statements and the Shenzhen bourse hopes to significantly bolster the number this year, the sources said.

Senior exchange officials including the Shenzhen bourse's general manager Zhang Yujun as well as industry experts on CSR are set to attend the seminars to offer suggestions, according to the sources.

"The CSR reports will become an essential part of regulatory requirements on listed firm's corporate governance in the future," said a second source. "The move might take some time to expand but it will be an inevitable trend.“