| Global Links Initiative Executive Director, Fan Li, attended the CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) forum held in the China Executive Leadership Academy Pudong (CELAP) on the afternoon of May 29th. This forum was conducted by the British Consulate-General Shanghai and CELAP. Sue Bishop, British Consul General in Shanghai; John Alty from the Department of Trade and Industry and the representatives from B&Q, Tesco, etc. attended this forum.
CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) is a concept with a growing currency within China and around the globe. It is a concept that frequently overlaps with similar approaches such as corporate sustainability, corporate sustainable development, corporate responsibility, and corporate citizenship. In the forum, Jiang Haishan, the Director-General from CELAP, introduced the CSR program in CELAP. CELAP is the national level officials training base for the Central Chinese Government. CELAP has trained thousands of governors, national ministers, mayors, general secretaries and CEO's. CELAP believes that in order to solve CSR challenges in China, the role of the Chinese government is paramount. Therefore, improving CSR training for high-level Chinese government officials has become one of CELAP's more important objectives. With the help of the British Consulate-General Shanghai, CELAP will conduct several collaborative projects on Chinese CSR. Mark Ladham, Managing Director Retail from B&Q, introduced the CSR programme of B&Q China. B&Q China is committed to being a responsible company ensuring that their operations are environmentally and socially sustainable for the long-term. B&Q China's target for timber sourcing is to ensure that the wood and paper products come either from proven, well-managed forests or from recycled materials. Moreover, B&Q China has begun to supply wood products from sustainable sources in some big cities in China. Although the prices of these products are higher than like products, they are accepted by a group of customers concerned about environmental protection. Global Links Initiative Executive Director, Fan Li, introduced the main activities conducted by GLI under the topic of Social Enterprise. Companies can deliver their modern management experience and techniques to benefit society and the community; donations are not the only way. This kind of support can be more efficient and lasting and it can also help companies to understand the demands of the market and the community better. Through this forum, attendees shared their views and experience of CSR, and got a better understanding of GLI's Social Enterprise activities. |