(chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2007-07-17 15:09

By June 22 of this year, 34 Chinese enterprises had published their corporate social responsibility (CSR) reports, with 80 percent being State-owned enterprises (SOEs), the China Business News reported Tuesday.

Li Wen, chief editor with CNPC Research Institute of Economics and Technology, explained that with more government support, State-owned enterprises enjoyed advantages in funds, assets, management and technology. In contrast, some private companies treated their CSR reports as promotion leaflets.

Although an increasing number of enterprises are publishing CSR reports, most of them do not closely associate CSR with company strategies and objectives as many western multinational corporations do. Yet companies should make CSR reporting and implementation as a long-term practice, said Li.

According to Zhang Xiangchen, vice director of the WTO affairs department of the Ministry of Commerce, the government should continue to promote CSR via certification, but the certification must be based on companies' free will and not charge fees.