Chinese businesses embracing corporate responsibility
(China Daily)
Updated: 2008-03-07 07:17

There is a new buzzword in the Chinese business world, and it has little to do with making money.

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is now the rage for entrepreneurs of fast-growing Chinese private companies, who are entering the second phase of their development and seeking stable growth.

It is a far cry from last year, when a business reporter at the NPC and CPPCC would hear no end of the phase "building a 100-year-old business" as the motto of entrepreneurs they had exclusive access to.

These business leaders now join their counterparts worldwide to adopt CSR - taking responsibility for the impact of their activities on society and the environment in all aspects of their operations.

Donating money has often been regarded as a mark of a responsible company. But Xu Guanju, president of Transfar Group Co Ltd, said CSR should go beyond that.

Xu, a CPPCC member who heads one of the largest private chemical companies in East China, suggested that the government set out a CSR system for Chinese enterprises.

Besides donations, such a system should also cover areas including job creation, environmental protection, energy conservation and care for employees.

The government should also encourage the growth of companies that implement this CSR system through favorable taxation policies and allowing these companies priority in government purchases, Xu said.

Zhu Yicai, founder and chairman of Yurun Group, one of China's largest meat processors, echoed Xu's suggestions.

"A private company may only belong to the business founder himself at the very beginning. But as it grows and flourishes, it no longer belongs to any individual person," Zhu, an NPC deputy who donated more than 20 million yuan ($2.8 million) last year to social causes, said.

"Donations are just part of CSR. I think the most important CSR for an enterprise is to create jobs. More than 70 percent of the new jobs in Nanjing are provided by private enterprises," Zhu, whose Yurun Group supplies sausages and hams to nearly 70 percent of China's four- and five-star hotels, said.

The Nanjing-based company plans to build 30 large-scale pig farms in central and western China by 2010.

It is expected to be able to supply 30 million pigs annually by that time, making it one of the world's largest meat producers. Zhu plans to launch a primary school in each of the regions where he builds a new pig farm.

Integrating such social and environmental benefits with business profitability is becoming an increasingly important strategy for corporations in China.

A recent survey by public relations agency Ketchum found that the call for CSR in China is becoming louder.

The survey polled 2,750 "influential people" in 11 countries including China, and showed that interviewees want to hear more about what company leaders should do for society and the environment.

Honesty, ethics and fairness are more important than financial performance for chief executives, the survey showed. It was hard to say whether the entrepreneurs interviewed this year at the NPC and CPPCC had actually found the golden key to building a 100-year-old business.

The country's new generation of entrepreneurs are fighting hard to find the best answer for sustainable growth, and some believe CSR may well be just the thing they need.

(China Daily 03/07/2008 page6)