2018 Top 10 CSR Events in China

2018 was the first year for implementing the guiding principle of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China. It is also the 40th anniversary of China’s reform and opening up and a crucial year for securing a decisive victory in building a moderately prosperous society in all respects. 
 
In the context of a complex and volatile trade environment, profound changes in technological development, transformation and upgrading of all business, and higher expectations from people, various policies and regulations have been issued, outstanding practices have been emerging, and cooperation at home and abroad has continued to deepen.
 
Since 2006, we have been selecting and publishing the top ten annual CSR events in China for 13 years. As the first step in 2019, China WTO Tribune selected the 2018 top 10 CSR events in China (in chronological order) to review and solute all efforts in social responsibility development in China in 2018, and also hopes to welcome a better 2019.
 
1.    Shenzhen SASAC releases the first social responsibility report of municipal state-owned enterprises in China
   
On January 15, State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the People’s Government of Shenzhen Municipal (Shenzhen SASAC) released the 2017 Social Responsibility Report of Municipal State-owned Enterprises in Shenzhen. It is the first social responsibility report with municipal SASAC as the reporter in China’s state-owned assets system.   
 
The five chapters of the report focus on “innovation, coordination, green development, opening up and sharing”, and respectively elaborate on the responsibilities and vivid cases of municipal state-owned enterprises as the propeller of urban reform and innovation, the main provider of urban services, and the new force of building a community with a shared future for mankind. The top ten “craftsmen” of state-owned enterprises in Shenzhen were also included in the report for the first time.
 
Reason for listing:
 
Shenzhen is a symbol of China’s reform and opening up and the story of Shenzhen has been repeatedly mentioned in 2018. In the past, Shenzhen is a key word for innovation and opening up; in the future, it will be a model for promoting social responsibility development.
 
The release of this report is one of the symbolic events. It is not only a concentrated demonstration of the achievements of Shenzhen municipal state-owned enterprises’ social responsibility development, but also a direct reflection of the Shenzhen Government’s high regard for social responsibility and active fulfillment of social responsibility.
 
More importantly, it is a strong signal that government should take the initiative to fulfill responsibilities and disclose information to promote the corresponding enthusiasm of enterprises, so that they can pay more attention to the value of social responsibility, better understand the significance of information disclosure, and be more explicit in their mission of sustainable development. Such an approach will also be a good reference for other governments to promote the development of social responsibility.
 
2.    MOFCOM convenes “Green Purchasing Alliance”
   
On April 11, the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) motivated relevant associations and circulationenterprises to establish Green Purchasing Alliance to promote cooperation among relevant participating enterprises in supplier management, traceability system, consumer education, certified product procurement, service procurement, etc., push forward enterprises to build a green supply chain, and promote green consumption.
 
Previously, MOFCOM and relevant government ministries issued the Guidelines on Green Procurement of Enterprises. It guides enterprises to carry out green procurement from the aspects of procurement principles, supplier selection, government guidance and industry norms. In the future, MOFCOM will continue guiding enterprises to set up green product zones, give priority to purchasing green products, expand consumption of green products, and improve the mechanism of promoting consumption.
 
Reason for listing:
 
Sometimes, the biggest challenge for us may not be climate change, gender discrimination, or the crisis of ageing… It’s the ability of all of us to get together to solve these problems.
 
It is the same thing for promoting green procurement and green consumption. MOFCOM calls on all parties to establish Green Purchasing Alliance by integrating resources, setting up an open cooperation platform and covering online and offline channels. It helps to promote cooperation among relevant enterprises in supplier management, traceability system and consumer education, and facilitate them to participate in the formulation and implementation of relevant industry standards and industry norms, thus providing a more efficient, more standardized, consistent, and shared organizational guarantee and institutional support for building a green supply chain and promoting green consumption.
 
The long-term significance is that green procurement, as the fulcrum, can also leverage the responsibility upgrading of consumption, that is, through green procurement, upstream enterprises can be supervised and encouraged to improve environmental performance, and influence terminal consumers to establish a green lifestyle.
 
3.    President Xi proposes to support Chinese companies in Africa to forge CSR coalition
   
On September 3, Chinese President Xi Jinping proposed to support Chinese companies in Africa to forge CSR coalition in his speech at the opening ceremony of the 2018 Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC). The initiative triggered broad consensus and was incorporated into the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation Beijing Action Plan (2019-2021).
 
Reason for listing:
 
On such an important occasion, the announcement of Chinese CSR Coalition in Africa, personally initiated by the leader of China, was of great significance.
 
This is an important testimony. It is an achievement of China-Africa friendly cooperation and Chinese enterprises’ active CSR fulfillment in Africa. This is an important signal. The emphasis on social responsibility from national leaders is bound to promote the awareness and ability of more enterprises to fulfill their responsibilities. This is also an important direction. It can be foreseen that the establishment of the coalition will provide the scientific, rational and synergistic organizational guarantees for CSR fulfillment, and promote the development of China’s overseas social responsibility into a new stage.
 
It is worth mentioning that Africa is an important starting point for the Maritime Silk Road, so the establishment of Chinese CSR Coalition in Africa will also be an important means for the sustainable implementation of the Belt and Road Initiative in Africa and the sustainable development in China and Africa. 
 
4.    CSRC issues Governance Guidelines of Listed Companies to strengthen social responsibility and information disclosure requirements 
   
On September 30, China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) officially issued the revisedGovernance Guidelines of Listed Companies, and it would be implemented from the date of promulgation. 
 
This revised version focuses on four aspects, namely, 1) strengthening the leading role of listed companies in environmental protection and social responsibility; 2) further strengthening the constraints on controlling shareholders, actual controllers and their related parties, and paying more attention to protecting small and medium investors; 3) establishing the basic framework for information disclosure of environmental, social and governance (ESG); 4) raising new requirements on the stability of control in the governance of listed companies, the performance of duties by independent directors, the evaluation and incentive & restraint mechanism of directors, supervisors, and top management in listed companies, information disclosure enhancement, etc.
 
Reason for listing:
 
Strengthening the information disclosure requirements of listed companies, especially information of social responsibility fulfillment, is an important way to promote communication between enterprises and stakeholders. It is also an important link to promote the initiative of the companies to fulfill responsibility by market mechanism and build a “good market” mechanism. 
 
The release of the new version of Governance Guidelines of Listed Companies will further standardize the operation of listed companies, improve corporate governance, and protect the legitimate rights and interests of investors. It can also enhance the internationalization and international competitiveness of China’s capital market while promoting the stable and healthy development of China’s capital market.
 
From the perspective of information disclosure, the new version clearly puts forward the requirements of including Party building into the corporate articles of association, encouraging poverty alleviation and enhancing ESG disclosure. This changes the status that listed companies have long been accustomed to meeting only the mandatory disclosure requirements, and lays the foundation for the subsequent introduction of policies on mandatory environmental information disclosure and social responsibility information disclosure, etc. This also means that more and more professional third-party organizations need to participate in the process of information collection, research, preparation and disclosure of listed companies to improve comprehensiveness and guarantee professionalism.
 
5.    The 5th World Internet Conference focuses on “building a sustainable digital world”
   
On November 7, the 5th World Internet Conference (WIC), themed with “Creating a Digital World of Mutual Trust and Collective Governance —— Towards a Community with a Shared Future in Cyber Space”, was held in Wuzhen. President Xi Jinping pointed out in his congratulatory letter that, he hoped everyone will brainstorm, build consensus, and jointly promote global digital development to build a sustainable digital world, making the Internet develop better and benefit the people of all countries in the world.
 
About 1,500 representatives from 76 countries and regions gathered together to discuss issues such as innovation development, cybersecurity, etc. The World Internet Development Report 2018and the China Internet Development Report 2018 were also released during the conference.
 
Reason for listing:
 
In dealing with many global challenges and international affairs, it seems to have become a fixed pattern that China establishes a platform and gets other countries involved in. 
 
Depositing in five years, the WIC has moved from the initial “stage” to the current “platform”, from the initial global Internet technology display platform to a global dialogue platform for cyber space governance. This change indicates China’s deep engagement in global Internet governance and its good image of a responsible power. In addition, in the process of comprehensively promoting the Belt and Road Initiative, creating a collaborative and friendly “Digital Silk Road” by building a sustainable digital world will also help China and countries along the route to achieve Sustainable Development Goals.
 
Focusing on “building a sustainable digital world”, this conference follows the latest trends in the global Internet and caters for the reality of the booming digital economy in the domestic Internet. It will not only help countries to seek consensus in disputes, create win-win cooperation, and truly realize shared responsibility and shared future in cyber space. Meanwhile, the event will create a clean and optimistic network space and establish the win-win business ecosystem for the domestic Internet digital economy so as to release the dividend of the digital economy in a safer, more innovative and more sustainable way.
 
6. Yili announces world’s first annual report on biodiversity protection to promote the realization of SDGs
   
On November 18, Yili Group, as the first Chinese enterprise to sign the Cancun Business and Biodiversity Pledge to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), announced world's first annual report on biodiversity protection. The report systematically disclosed Yili’s efforts and achievement on promoting the upstream and downstream of the industry chain to fulfill their social responsibilities and protect biological diversity. This is another “Chinese sample” on the world stage after Yili Group’s Practices on Biodiversity Protection was selected as outstanding practices by UNESCO.  
 
On December 7, Yili was awarded the Best Practices for Chinese Enterprises to Achieve SDGs in 2018 by the UN Global Compact at the 2018 China Business Summit on Achieving SDGs.
 
Reason for listing:
 
The economic globalization of China in the new era is first or should be reflected in the globalized management of Chinese enterprises. As an outstanding representative of Chinese enterprises, Yili has actively responded to international initiatives in line with its core business, paid close attention to biodiversity and other sustainability topics for many years, and invested a lot to carry out a number of biodiversity practice projects, which is quite rare at home and abroad.
 
This is not only a sample of Yili, a global enterprise responding to global initiatives and assuming global responsibilities in the new era, but also a symbol of China's participation in global governance as a responsible power. It demonstrates the mission, vision and actions that a first-class enterprise should have.
 
7. “Genetically edited babies” triggers legal and ethical controversy
   
On November 26, He Jiankui, a researcher from Shenzhen, claimed that genetically edited babies, twin girls were born “healthily” in China. This caused much controversy over the law and ethics in the academic and social circles. More than 100 scientists even issued a joint statement saying that they "resolutely oppose and strongly condemn" the actions.
 
On November 29, the National Health Commission, the Ministry of Science and Technology and the China Association for Science and Technology stated that, the nature of the incident is extremely serious, relevant organizations have been required to suspend the scientific research of relevant personnel, and they will resolutely investigate and punish the illegal behaviors.
 
Reason for listing:
 
The significance of science lies in bringing out its good rather than bad side. The bottom line of science forbids challenging the margin of humanity and ethics, which are the self-love of science and the responsibility of technology.
 
We are speeding up our encounters with the most unknown topics of this era, and there are frequent occurrences of scientific research that crossed the ethical and moral boundaries. Theincident of “genetically edited babies” is more like a wake-up call: scientific research institutions, technical organizations and researchers should respect life and responsibility, and the corresponding legislative preparation and legal requirements should also keep up with the era and fill the gaps in the unknown fields urgently. The incident also is a serious warning to society that any “act first and report afterwards” behavior with feasibility but without rationality will be irresponsible, controversial and self-destructive.
 
Genome editing may not yet be in full bloom. However, the multiple public opinion changes before and after the incident indicate that more and more people, including the media, need to participate in the discussion of science popularization to understand science and ethics so as to better protect the pure land in the frontier field of science.
 
8. The First GoldenBee CSR Academic Seminar promotes multi-party industry-university-research-enterprise cooperation
   
On December 5, The First GoldenBee CSR Academic Seminar was held in Beijing. The seminar was hosted by GoldenBee Thinktank, in collaboration with Embassy of Sweden in Beijing, HUST-GoldenBee CSR Research Institute, and China General Nuclear Power Corporation (CGN). More than 100 participants, including professors, scholars and students from more than 20 well-known universities and research institutes at home and abroad as well as business representatives attended the Seminar. Guest speakers at the Seminar discussed the current development of CSR researches, the practical role and future trends of CSR in the panels of “View Sharing: Scholars”, “View Sharing: Business Pioneers” and “Youth Vision”.
 
Reason for listing:
 
The significance of theoretical development is always to guide practice and promote the development of disciplines. After long-term theoretical exploration and practices, the corporate social responsibility development in China has made fruitful achievements: innovations in theories, more practices by enterprises, and new development in disciplines. These good academic resources and good practical experience need to be shared and disseminated in a broader scope so that they can achieve consensus, lead to synergy, and develop together.
 
The First GoldenBee CSR Academic Seminar focuses on the most cutting-edge, most enterprise-relevant and most interest-direct social responsibility issues at home and abroad, and gathers industries, universities, academia and enterprises to enhance information communication and integrate resource sharing, which will facilitate good practices sharing in universities, good CSR concepts implemented by enterprises, good CSR stories known by the society and good models go international, and provide academic support and practical motivation for the better promotion and development of social responsibility in China. 
 
9. Report on CSR Development of Enterprises with Foreign Investment in China (1978-2018) released
   
On December 12, the Report on CSR Development of Enterprises with Foreign Investment in China (1978-2018) was officially released at the 2018 Corporate Social Responsibility Annual Conference for Enterprises with Foreign Investment in China. The report selects 120 social responsibility practices and 140 corporate social responsibility reports and sustainability reports, and shows 63 social responsibility cases. The report also gives an in-depth summary of the CSR achievements and experiences of foreign-invested enterprises since China’s reform and opening up, systematically portraying the 40 years that the foreign-invested enterprises take root in China, and have been constantly seeking win-win cooperation with stakeholders.
 
Reason for listing:
 
Looking for the secret of the foreign-invested enterprises’ development in China, in a sense, is to explore the password of China's reform and opening up. The 40th anniversary of China’s reform and opening up marks a 40-year period for Chinese enterprises to go global and a period for foreign-invested enterprises to enter China and achieve win-win development with China.
 
In this context, the report is endowed with value of academic summary and historical memo. Because this report is not only a summary of the practice of foreign-invested enterprises rooting in the local community and actively fulfilling their social responsibilities, but also implies how Chinese enterprises can achieve the harmony, co-prosperity and sustainable development with the local community through active CSR fulfillment.
 
There is no end in practice and the reform will go on. Driven by China’s continued opening up and efforts to build a world-class business environment, foreign-invested enterprises are bound to usher in a new era of vigorous development.
 
10. State Grid releases the Guideline on CSR Implementation Overseas 
   
On December 12, State Grid Corporation of China (SGCC) released the SGCC Guideline on CSR Implementation Overseas, the first overseas social responsibility guideline for China’s central state-owned enterprises, at the Chinese Enterprise Global Image Summit 2018. From the normative and rational perspectives, it presents the basic requirements, management ideas and operational behaviors of the company to fulfill CSR overseas, and measures to actively contribute to sustainable development and inclusive growth. The SGCC Overseas CSR Story (2018) was also released at the summit.
 
Reason for listing:
 
As the first overseas social responsibility guideline for China’s central state-owned enterprises, the guideline is a systematic review of the State Grid's innovation in the social responsibility philosophy, and a vivid summary of the company’s social responsibility practice results, which provides approaches to CSR fulfillment overseas for Chinese enterprises as reference and thus is historically significant to theoretical innovation and practical demonstration.
 
The release of the guideline also demonstrates the image of a responsible enterprise, a CSR practitioner and a CSR innovator of the pioneering Chinese enterprises. It is the best interpretation and a vivid case of the image of China as a responsible power. 

 
Experts participating in the selection of the “2018 Top 10 CSR Events in China” and putting forward opinions and suggestions include:

·         Yu Zhihong, President and Editor-in-Chief of China WTO Tribune
 
·         Chen Yuanqiao, Secretary General of Social Responsibility Working Group of International Standardization Organization; Researcher of China National Institute of Standardization (CNIS)
 
·         Li Ling, Vice Chairman, China Association of Enterprises with Foreign Investment
 
·         Li Li, Associate Research Fellow of Institute of International Economy, University of International Business and Economics (UIBE), and Director of China Research Center for Technical Barriers to Trade, UIBE
 
·         Zhang Shaoping, Executive Director, China Association of Social Workers, Committee of Corporate Citizenship
 
·         Zhou Weizhong, Professor of Business School, Central University of Finance and Economics
 
·         Guo Xiuming, Vice Chairman, China Information Technology Industry Social Responsibility Committee
 
·         Guo Yi, Professor of School of Economics, Beijing Technology and Business University (BTBU), and Director of Business Environment Research Center, BTBU
 
·         Yin Gefei, Chief Expert of GoldenBee Thinktank; Secretary of ISO 26000 Stakeholder Global Network (SGN)
 
·         Liang Xiaohui, Ph.D, Chief Researcher of Social Responsibility Office, China National Textile and Apparel Council
 
·         Han Bin, Executive Secretary-general of Global Compact Network China 
 
·         Lei Hong, Vice Chairman of Chinese Sociological Association, Professor of School of Sociology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST), and Dean of HUST-GoldenBee CSR Research Institute
 
·         Tan Mingfang, Professor of School of Philosophy, Zhongnan University of Economics and Law, Vice Chairman of Hubei Sociological Association
 
·         Zhai Qi, Executive Secretary General, China Business Council for Sustainable Development (CBCSD)
 
·         Xue Dayuan, Professor of Minzu University of China, Chief Scientist of “Project 985” Ecological Environment Platform