Business ethics tainted by dirty oil

The Jiaozuo-based Jiankangyuan company in Henan province was exposed as using dirty cooking oil to make drugs, says an article in China Business News. Excerpts:

This oil has become headline news many times, because some restaurants use for cooking as well. But this is the first time that the carcinogenic oil appears in the process of making medicine.

The listed pharmaceutical company uses the dirty oil to cut production costs and get higher profits.

The lack of supervision and of an accountability system present a slack environment in which the companies can exhaust all possibilities to increase immediate profits.

These companies do not care about commercial ethics and naturally do not bother to improve the quality of their products with innovation and strict management. R&D is expensive. But innovation brings sustainable benefits in the long run.

So it is a great challenge for Chinese companies to divert their attention from quick benefits to long-term development and respect commercial ethics and innovation.

Even if it is impossible to achieve technological breakthroughs soon, they have the ability to ensure legal production and quality products.

The relevant authorities should also do their best to create a well-regulated and pro-competition market environment to promote healthy competition and legal business practices. A healthy market environment inspires companies to pursue long-term development.

The frequently exposed dirty oil scandals actually damage the authorities' reputation again and again and send the wrong signal to the companies.