Good afternoon!

The initiative of China News Weekly to hold the International Corporate Social Responsibility Forum in China with the theme of Global Responsibility for Harmony for the discussions on corporate social responsibility will give a positive push to the country’s efforts in strengthening the corporate social responsibility.

Under the background of deepening economic globalization and rapid scientific and technological advancement, the corporate social responsibility campaign, mainly including labor, consumer and new environment protection campaigns has gradually become a kind of development trend. All governments, social organizations and companies are paying more and more attention to the corporate social responsibility. Many multinational companies work out their own social responsibility standard and incorporate them into their global supply chain system. This is a manifestation of social advancement.

China is a socialist country with good traditions in the area of corporate social responsibility. Under the new market economy conditions, in order to safeguard the legitimate interests of the labors and consumers, and to protect the environment, the Chinese government encourages domestic enterprises to actively undertake their social responsibility. It has successively promulgated more than 20 laws and regulations concerning corporate social responsibility, giving a strong impetus to the work in the respect. Fulfilling the social responsibility has increasingly become a voluntary action of Chinese enterprises. However, restricted by such factors as low economic development level, some corporations overemphasize profit goals pursuing only the economic returns while neglecting their due social responsibility. Some corporations delay or skimp on the salary of the employees, which is an infringement of their legitimate right. Some do not have adequate safeguard and security mechanism. Some pay no attention at all to the environment by wasting resources and polluting the environment. Some produce and sell counterfeits, which leads to rampant infringement of intellectual property rights. All these behaviors have not only resulted in severe social and environmental problems, but also hindered the sustainable economic and social progress.

Currently, China has entered a new phase of development, in which materializing the philosophy of scientific development and building a harmonious society and a harmonious world inject new contents to the corporate social responsibility. First of all, doing a better job in fulfilling the social responsibility is the need of the corporations themselves in order for their further development. In the modern society, the social image of a company is as important as its brand. Only those with advanced technology and management as well as good performance of their social responsibility can be winners in the future competitions. Companies that fail to fulfill their social responsibility can hardly find a footing in the market. Valuing the employees’ dignity, safety and welfare will help motivate their enthusiasm, and strengthen the coordination of the team, while attaching importance to the consumers’ interests will be beneficial to the social image of the companies bringing more acknowledgement of the consumers.

Secondly, strengthening corporate social responsibility is the requirement of China’s nationwide efforts in building a harmonious society, in which the business community is an important main player. Well fulfilling the corporate social responsibility is beneficial to establishing a more harmonious labor-management relationship and manufacturer-consumer relationship, to increasing the income of middle and low income households such as farmers and thus narrowing the income gap between the poor and the rich, and to energy saving, environmental protection, transformation of economic growth mode and improvement of the relationship between man and the nature.

Thirdly, a better job in fulfilling the corporate social responsibility is the demand for China to be further involved in the economic globalization. In recent years, China has been confronted with more trade frictions, some of which result from trade protectionism, while some others are due to companies’ evasion of their social responsibility by means of vicious damping in the international market. Therefore, strengthening the awareness of corporate social responsibility is helpful for Chinese companies to be involved in the global supply chain of multinational companies. It also helps them grow into multinational companies themselves. It helps break up trade barriers and ease up trade frictions.

To enhance corporate social responsibility requires active and steady efforts, which must be based on the specific situation in China. China is a developing country with a per capita income of less than US$2000. It is a populous country under big unemployment pressure. The corporate social responsibility should not be carried out by the same means as those in the developed countries. It is impossible for us to blindly pursue too high a standard that goes beyond our development level. It is important to avoid any big impact on the economic development and employment. The relationship between the government, businesses and social organizations such as trade associations must be put right. The government is required to earnestly carry out its functions on the one hand, while on the other, it cannot go beyond its mandate and meddle into the corporate affairs. Comprehensive good implementation of corporate social responsibility should combine the enthusiasm and efforts of all parties at different levels: The government presents guidelines; The trade associations give impetus; The corporations execute and all other social communities are actively engaged. The specific measures underlying priorities should be adapted with the local conditions. In a country like China with vast land and huge rural-urban, regional and industrial imbalances, uniformity is not practical in the corporate social responsibility efforts.

The Ministry of Commerce always attaches great importance to the issue of corporate social responsibility. We encourage all trade corporations and foreign-invested companies to pay equal attention to the growth of production, sales, and export, as well as eco-environment and rights and interests of the labors and consumers, even the coordinated social development at large. As a specific step, MOFCOM has also formulated some policies in this regard. Now, the Ministry is studying on taking import and export and domestic circulation as the starting point to guide more corporations to undertake their social responsibility.

I sincerely hope that through the Forum, more people will understand the concept, connotation and development trend of corporate social responsibility, and more Chinese enterprises will care about resource and energy, labor and consumer rights and interest, and safe production and environmental protection undertaking their due social responsibility for building a harmonious country and a harmonious world at large.

In conclusion, I wish the Forum a complete success!

Thank you.

Jan. 26, 2007