CECP's Global Exchange at the CRO Global Summit in Shanghai

By Kari Niedfeldt-Thomas, Managing Director, Corporate Leadership
Mar 14, 2019 12:25 PM ET
Campaign: CECP Insights Blog

As originally posted on CECP's Insights Blog

Three years ago, CECP came together with its partner organizations around the world and established the Global Exchange as an opportunity to expand corporate impact and develop a shared voice on how companies are a force for good around the world. The spark for these partnerships came about because of Giving Around the Globe research. Currently, the Global Exchange has 16 Country Partners—organizations similar to CECP in their mission to support corporate social responsibility in their countries. These partners regularly meet, share insights on their geographies, assess best practices for serving companies, and collaborate on thought leadership. Multi-national companies need global reach with their CSR strategies, and they seek partners that they can trust. CECP, in partnership with the Global Exchange Country Partners, provides trusted advice and insights to companies so CSR teams and their CEOs have partners around the globe to support their priorities.

CECP’s Global Exchange Country Partner in mainland China and Hong Kong is SynTao. SynTao extended an invitation to me to present at their annual CRO Global Summit on CECP and the important work of many CECP affiliated companies. The CRO (Corporate Responsibility Officer) Global Summit’s theme this year was “Sustainability, the Engine of Future Business,” and was a gathering of large international and domestic companies, international organizations, and network representatives from China and around the world. Along with the audience, I learned of the innovative and impactful programs and initiatives of companies in China. Additionally, Dr. Peiyuan Guo, SynTao’s co-founder and general manager, shared their top trends for China in 2019 which you can find here. I am grateful for their invitation, and I am proud of our relationship with SynTao and the important work that they do with companies in China.

While in China, meeting with many companies and other China corporate responsibility leaders, I learned much about China and how companies are executing their CSR strategies.  A few insights:

  • China’s larger government initiative focused on achieving CSR goals by 2020 is embedded into the country’s influence and impact on the global economy. Companies should research specific government priorities, such as the poverty alleviation campaign, increasing housing construction, and reducing environmental pollution. There are also various policies, compliance, and disclosures that are critical for companies to understand and discern what is applicable to them.
  • Companies in China, just like in other places around the world—whether private, public, or state-owned enterprises (SOE)—need to reach their critical stakeholders. CSR programs help to tell the story of companies’ values, but it may look different in China based on which stakeholders are the most important for specific businesses. From customers to government to capital markets, companies must be relevant in their CSR initiatives.

Read the complete blog post: https://cecp.me/2DX0iBW