As the most populous developing country,
China faces the pressures of resource shortage and environment protection in the
course of its socio-economic development, said Chen Jinhua, Chairman of China
Enterprise Confederation (CEC) and China Enterprise Directors' Association
(CEDA).
Chen Jinhua,
Chairman of China Enterprise
Confederation |
Addressing the "Focusing East:
Business and Sustainable Development in China and World Business Council
Sustainable Development Liaison Delegates Meeting" held end of March, Chen said
that the Chinese Government has made sustainable development a part of national
strategy to boost socio-economic progress and also designated resource
conservation and environment protection as basic national policy.
Economic globalization and ever-changing technologies have often brought with
them increasingly negative impact.
Issues such as deterioration of natural resources and the eco-system,
widening gap between the well-off and the poor, unemployment, and deficiency in
social security have caused public concern and uncertainty among all countries,
according to the chairman.
Consequently, sustainable development has become increasingly important on
the international level.
As representative of the Chinese employer association, CEC, which is active
in co-ordinating labour relations, is also committed to encouraging businesses
to take social responsibility and pursuit of effective ways of corporate social
responsibility (CSR) implementation.
CEC is the first Chinese organization to become a member of the Global
Compact (GC). At the meeting on Chinese Entrepreneurs' Activity Day, the
chairman called for Chinese businesses to actively participate in the activities
of GC.
The companies recommended by CEC in the letter of commitment to the
activities of GC all represent large group companies, with widespread presence
in their sectors.
Many of these prominent players, like Sinopec, CNPC, Baosteel, Haier, COSCO,
and China Railway have joined GC.
They have integrated the GC principle into their own development strategy,
operational philosophy and corporate behaviour so as to fulfill corporate social
responsibility.
"We are fully aware that all the efforts are just a start. The situation and
mission in front of us presents long-term and arduous tasks," said the chairman.
"The Chinese Government is now much clearer of the importance and the imperative
option of sustainable development."
With the support of the Chinese Government, the China Business Council for
Sustainable Development (CBCSD) was established in January 2004 through joint
efforts of all council members and a number of well-known companies home and
abroad as well as multinationals.
"To develop the economy while protecting the ecological environment and
saving resource and energy becomes not only an issue cared about by the
government, scientists and citizens but also important for China's business
community," said Wang Jiming, executive chairman of CBCSD and vice-chairman of
Sinopec Corp, at the meeting.
According to Wang, faced with the challenges and opportunities of sustainable
development, CBCSD has been working hard since its establishment in the
following areas:
Be active in developing membership
Since it was founded, CBCSD has taken active and stable steps in acquiring
members, following the principle of fostering members among industry leaders
first. Up to now, the council has 41 members and will have 50 by the end of the
year.
To urge companies to shoulder social responsibility and organize all kinds of
activities for its members
CBCSD has organized its members to participate in the forum of the
"Sustainable Development- China and the World", which is sponsored by Chinese
People's Political Consultative Conference. Under the theme of sustainable
development, CBCSD members demonstrated their achievements and performance in
sustainable development.
To organize a variety of forums and seminars
Through the "International Forum on Circular Economy and Corporate
Development" sponsored by CBCSD, the council has promoted the development of
circular economy featuring energy efficiency and circulation.
To intensify collaboration with WBCSD
The council exchanged senior level visits with World Business Council for
Sustainable Development (WBCSD) last year to push forward China's sustainable
development.
To encourage co-operation among CBCSD members
To foster co-operation on sustainable development between Chinese and foreign
companies.
"The fast, stable, healthy and co-ordinated development of the Chinese
economy and all-round improvement of the Chinese society would not have been
fully realized without the implementation of the sustainable development
strategy," said Wang.
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