CSR Footprints in China: Foreign Companies in SEZs Share Best Practices

摘要

Many multinational companies in China use corporate social responsibility (CSR) as a public relations tool to enhance their brand image. But as John Ruggie's Protect, Respect, and Remedy Framework, which was recently approved under the UN Guiding Principles on business and human rights, suggests, CSR is more than green washing and window dressing. It concerns corporate respect for labour rights, health and safety at work, respect for citizens in local communities, access to water, food and shelter, clean environment and many other basic stakeholder rights. This paper presents emerging trends and best practices among six MNCs in China, which are implementing CSR and sustainability initiatives in their corporate governance compliance strategies. The paper is based on field observations and interviews among senior executives at European and American owned companies operating in special zones in Shanghai, Suzhou and Xiamen, China. It investigates the extent to which these companies are implementing strategies, which factor in the 2nd pillar of the Protect, Respect, and Remedy Framework. It shares some of the success factors and challenges which foreign MNCs face as they seek to implement best CSR practices in their supply chains in China and asks whether this is also a way forward for Chinese SMBs.