e-magazine
Quake Shocks Sichuan
Nation demonstrates progress in dealing with severe disaster
Current Issue
· Table of Contents
· Editor's Desk
· Previous Issues
· Subscribe to Mag
Subscribe Now >>
Expert's View
World
Nation
Business
Finance
Market Watch
Legal-Ease
North American Report
Forum
Government Documents
Expat's Eye
Health
Science/Technology
Lifestyle
Books
Movies
Backgrounders
Special
Photo Gallery
Blogs
Reader's Service
Learning with
'Beijing Review'
E-mail us
RSS Feeds
PDF Edition
Web-magazine
Reader's Letters
Make Beijing Review your homepage
Hot Links

cheap eyeglasses
Market Avenue
eBeijing

World
Print Edition> World
UPDATED: November 29, 2010 NO. 48 DECEMBER 2, 2010
Corporate Conscience
China calls on its companies in Africa to contribute more to social welfare
By ZHANG ZHONGXIANG
Share

The entry of Chinese companies into the market has broken the monopoly of Western telecom giants and dramatically reduced telecom charges. As a result, mobile phones have quickly gained popularity and ordinary Africans have benefited.

Problems

Problems can also be seen, however, amid these sound, cooperative projects. Obviously, they require proper handling. A prominent problem is Chinese companies' social responsibility. Generally, this problem is evidenced in two ways.

The most common problem revolves around the quality of Chinese products. Many African people say Chinese products, although cheap, are of poor quality. For example, shoes might fall apart in less than a month and many mobile phones are counterfeit. In fact, this is the responsibility of both Chinese companies and African purchasing agents. They often focus on cheap products and even directly rush to Yiwu, a famous distribution center for small commodities in east China, to import products of very poor quality.

Conflicts are also found in the employment of local workers. In general, African countries expect Chinese companies in Africa to hire more local workers in order to increase local employment and improve the livelihoods of the people.

In addition, African countries expect Chinese companies to transfer more technology, better comply with local laws and protect the environment. Meanwhile, they hope Chinese companies can strengthen links with local communities and make greater efforts to promote public welfare so as to better repay local society.

Furthermore, some Chinese companies have treated African employees badly, as evidenced by severe labor disputes involving Chinese firms.

The Chinese Government does, however, attach great importance to the social responsibility of Chinese companies in Africa. It views this matter as crucial to the new China-Africa strategic partnership and China's image in Africa. China has already taken a series of measures in this regard, including passing regulations, holding seminars and carrying out specific projects.

The Chinese Government, academic circles and companies have agreed on the importance of regulating corporate behavior and establishing a good social image.

For instance, in October, the Chinese-African People's Friendship Association and China Radio International jointly launched the China-Africa Friendship Award in Beijing, selecting 10 Chinese companies that have made the greatest contributions to Africa. The winners will set up a fund of 5 million yuan ($753,000) to help needy African students.

Judgments

The problems mentioned above should be treated comprehensively and fairly. But some Western media are deliberately magnifying these problems. Their actions reveal a desire to harm China-Africa relations. A few years ago, Western countries accused China of pursuing "neo-colonialism" in Africa. Recently, they have turned to talking about the corporate responsibility of Chinese companies in Africa.

The reason is they do not want to see the rapid development of China-Africa economic and trade cooperation. It has touched a nerve since Africa has traditionally been regarded as within Western countries' sphere of influence. In addition, Western media want to attract interest for their own good.

Western countries have no grounds to criticize China in the area of corporate responsibility. They have an ignominious history of engaging in slave trade and colonizing Africa. Even today, their image in Africa is not good. For instance, the British oil giant Shell has extracted oil in the Niger Delta for decades and obtained huge profits. But the Niger Delta is still poor and people there are suffering greatly from the pollution caused by crude oil extraction.

Under the cover of protecting intellectual property rights, Western companies have ensured their monopolies and gained huge profits. They have barely taken the initiative to transfer technology to African countries. All these realities make their accusations toward Chinese companies pale and weak.

Chinese companies have made great progress in improving corporate social performance in Africa and have contributed greatly to African countries. Take Huawei, which entered the African market in 1997. Among its more than 4,000 employees in Africa, 65 percent are local people. It has six training centers in Africa, training 12,000 people each year.

China's Sinohydro Corp. is another good example. It has more than 30 projects in Angola in the fields of water conservancy, agriculture, public health, schools and transportation, valued at more than $900 million.

In these projects, the company has sent top-notch technicians to offer guidance to local workers. To date, it has trained and hired more than 8,200 local staff, accounting for 70 percent of its total employment in Angola.

Chinese companies often do a lot and say little. They seldom publicize themselves. In this globalized world, they should change this practice and strengthen international exchanges on the issue of corporate responsibility.

The author is a research fellow with the Shanghai Institutes for International Studies

   Previous   1   2  



 
Top Story
-Too Much Money?
-Special Coverage: Economic Shift Underway
-Quake Shocks Sichuan
-Special Coverage: 7.0-Magnitude Earthquake Hits Sichuan
-A New Crop of Farmers
Related Stories
-A Bridge Between China and Africa
-Voyage to Africa
 
Most Popular
在线翻译
About BEIJINGREVIEW | About beijingreview.com | Rss Feeds | Contact us | Advertising | Subscribe & Service | Make Beijing Review your homepage
Copyright Beijing Review All right reserved