Social Responsibility

Chinese companies are becoming more aware of corporate social responsibility, and more and more entrepreneurs are active in promoting low-carbon living. During the Copenhagen Conference of 2009 they published a declaration promising to echo the Chinese government's environmental protection commitment, to find environment-friendly and low-carbon approaches to growth, and to espouse social responsibility.

Vanke, one of China's largest real estate developers, has been focusing on applying energy-saving technologies in construction, like promoting housing industrialization, interior decoration and developing green construction technologies.

Compared with traditional homes, industrialized ones can reduce energy consumption by 20 percent per square meter, and reduce water consumption by 63 percent, timber formwork by 87 percent and construction waste by 91 percent. As early as 2003 Vanke initiated a project to promote standardized residences. It built many multi-story apartments and single houses. In 2008 about 74,000 square meters of industrialized residences were completed, with a further 600,000 square meters under construction. In 2010 a million square meters of industrialized residences will be built.

On March 27, 2010, Vanke's offices in over 30 Chinese cities and 200 communities it developed took part in the 2010 Earth Hour. Wang Shi, Vanke's Chairman and a philanthropist, was the promotion ambassador for the Earth Hour event. The Vanke Foundation joined hands with the Shanghai World Expo Bureau and Tencent Charity Fund to initiate "Zero Mile Action," the first activity in China to promote waste classification and reduction.

Mengniu Dairy Co., Ltd., one of China's largest dairy companies, launched the new green industrial chain standard and declared they would use new packaging materials approved by FSC (Forest Stewardship Council). Mengniu also has a project in 100 communities in Shanghai that encourages people to recycle dairy packaging and shows them easy and efficient ways of doing so.

The Chinese media and publishing industry are also actively involved in emission reduction. In 2008, a Chinese press published a book printed on 100-percent-recycled paper. The first run was 50,000 copies, which meant a saving of 313 trees, 1,840 cubic meters of water, 11,000 kWh of electricity and 5,500 kg of chemical materials. The 2009 Beijing Book Fair saw dozens of publishers using more recycled paper -- about 30 percent of their books are printed on "green" stock. Beijing Hongwenguan Press and Xianzhi Xianxing Press even promised that in three years' time they would be printing on recycled paper exclusively.