A 2000–2023 dataset for measuring China’s biodiversity risk.

The increasing frequency of extinctions of biological populations has important implications for related sectors. Consequently, the risks associated with biodiversity are receiving increasing attention and are being recognized as entirely new risk factors. To understand the drivers of biodiversity risk, it is crucial to measure biodiversity risk at multiple levels, especially in developing countries. Using machine learning and text mining methods, we measure the biodiversity risk of the Chinese market from 2000 to 2023 from the perspectives of macro-government, meso-industry, and micro-firms, by analysing official media news texts, related fund-holding data, and listed firms’ annual reports. A macro-level index derived from the sentiment and frequency of biodiversity-related discourse in official media, including the China Environment News and the CCTV News, from 2013 to 2023. Meso-level industry risk exposure indicator, calculated as the deviation of biodiversity-themed public funds’ holdings from market portfolio weights across 58 sectors. Micro-level firm-specific metrics, based on the frequency and sentiment analysis of biodiversity sentences in the annual reports of 5,606 A-share listed firms, 2000-2023, using an improved BERT model for Chinese text. These indicators provide researchers, policymakers, and financial practitioners with a foundational resource for empirically investigating the economic and financial implications of biodiversity risk in China.