Chinese officials issue guidelines

State-owned businesses in China have been advised by the government to create corporate responsibility departments and policies.  

Guidelines issued last month to China’s 152 centrally administered state enterprises say they must embrace CSR to remain competitive internationally, as well as to improve management.

They urge such businesses to set up corporate responsibility departments, gather sustainability data and produce regular reports. Only 11 state businesses currently publish sustainability reports.

In addition, they recommend education and training programmes be created to raise awareness among senior managers and other employees – and that state-owned enterprises emulate the best practice of foreign companies.

The guidelines have been issued by the influential state-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of State Council and follow a departmental review of state enterprises’ performance.

Brian Ho, a consultant with the advisory firm CSR Asia, said the guidelines will be given particular attention because they are in the form of a Red Header Document, which delivers important departmental messages on policy and planning. The directive was also the first issued this year, which Ho said was ‘particularly symbolic as it means that the stated content will be the main focus of work for that department for the whole year’.

The guidelines also address corruption, and propose more community giving and volunteering, better product safety and reduced emissions, but set no targets.

Ho emphasized that while not binding, they will carry great weight with state enterprises, and are likely to be ‘one of the most important factors in influencing CSR activity’ in the state sector.

State-owned Chinese companies have frequently come under fire for their willingness to invest in countries where labour standards and human rights are weak.

In 2007 China’s state-owned enterprises announced a 31.6 per cent rise in total profits, reaching a record 1.62 trillion yuan ($222billion, £111bn).