Congratulatory Letter to2015 Annual General Meeting of China Business Council for Sustainable Development (CBCSD)

By Chen Jinhua
Former Vice Chairman of the CPPCC National Committee,
Honorable Chairman of China Enterprise Confederation and
China Enterprise Directors Association
Honorable Chairman of CBCSD

16 April, 2015

Distinguished council members, representatives, ladies and gentlemen,

On behalf of China Enterprise Confederation, China Enterprise Directors Association, CBCSD and in my own name, I’d like to warmly welcome all the distinguished guests to the CBCSD’s 2015 Annual General Meeting.

Last year, China has made remarkable progress in social and economic development. The newly revised Environmental Protection Law has included the “promoting ecological civilization construction and economic and social sustainable development” into the legislative objective; and has set environmental protection as the basic national policy. National Plan on Climate Change (2014-2020) was launched, with targeted campaigns on air pollution prevention launched, and action plan on water and soil contamination treatment being formulated. All of these serve as the solid system and legal ensurance to promote sustainable development. The coordination and sustainability of economic and social development was largely improved; 15 key industries including iron steel and cement completed their annual tasks of phasing out dated production capacities in a timely manner, the energy consumption intensity of national economy decreased by 4.8%, which is the biggest annual progress in recent years.

I am pleased to see that, against such background, CBCSD has demonstrated its role of business advocate and leadership, committing itself to the sustainable development of economy, society and environment and fully demonstrated the principal role of board members, members companies and kept innovation with the support and guidance from the government and the leadership of China Enterprise Confederation (CEC). The council projects and activities are member-oriented, practical and also of rich content and wide coverage. Sharing the best practical business cases and sustainable development solutions in an innovative way which not only meet the national condition and the trends of social and economic development and have reached the anticipated results, but in particular, notable progress has been made in highlighted areas such as tackling climate change, new-type urbanization and CSR, which gained recognition from the government, civil society, and business communities. Hereby, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to all the board and member companies, for your great contribution to the sustainable development cause, I would also like to extend my respect and admiration for your strong support, for your selfless dedication as well as for being a highly responsible corporate citizen.

Currently, the world economic development has entered into a phase of in-depth transition and adjustment, economic globalization and regional economic integration have become the general trend. Chinese economy has also entered into a phase of New Normal with a medium to high speed growth featuring high efficiency, low cost and sustainability. The government has raised a scientific judgment that China has to deal simultaneously with the slowdown in economic growth, making difficult structural adjustments, and absorbing the effects of previous economic stimulus policies.. The government accordingly raised the strategic directions for expanding domestic demand, enhancing innovative capability and promoting the transition of economic development mode. In particular, the bearing capacity of the national resources and environment has already or is about to hit the ceiling, therefore, a development path of emphasizing quality and efficiency, inclusiveness and sustainability is necessary. This year’s government work report has especially focused on the balanced relation between economic development and resource bearing capacity and has listed the targets of energy conservation and emission reduction among other major economic and social development indicators, being upheld to a priority position. The report also pointed out that a development path, which highlights more on quality and efficiency, inclusiveness and sustainability, is necessary under the economic New Normal.

New Normal calls for new actions. Enterprises should held the sustainable development strategy to a more prominent position and focus on management and technological innovation; they should also consciously implement green development, low-carbon development and circular development, strengthen the sustainable capacity and accelerate the transition from speed and performance driven to innovation driven so as to inject new impetus to the realization of a medium to high speed growth of Chinese economy. Urbanization has the biggest potential in domestic demand growth and is the crucial engine for economic growth. It is worth noticing that, China is undergoing a key period for accelerated urbanization with sharp and evident conflicts of urban sustainability at present and in the coming few years. Enterprises should seize the new round of development opportunities brought by urbanization and deploy the new technologies and new industries in cities sustainable development in a forward-looking manner, integrating the industrial strengthening and upgrading with the urban sustainable development dynamically. The 11th Conference on Latest Trends of Sustainable Development following this year’s AGM is about to conduct an in-depth discussion on “Economic New Normal and Sustainable Development Pathway”, which is in line with the important development strategy of economic transition in the new era, and is bound to help more enterprises to think and focus on sustainable development from boarder perspectives.

Dear friends and comrades,

Twenty years have almost passed since the government proposed the sustainable development strategy. Right now, the fundamentals of the economic and social development are positive, domestic market potential is huge, social production capacity is solid, technological innovation capability is enhanced, intellectual resources are abundant, and comprehensive advantages of production factors are evident. We now stand at a higher position to boost sustainable development, and we have hard-won opportunities and favorable conditions. Therefore the business should always hold sustainable development as the core strategy and write new chapters for a bright future of business and society.
I hope that CBCSD continuously, adheres to its core pursuit of sustainable development, establish a exchange platform for government, enterprises and society, proactively give full play as the bridge and the bond, promote green development, low-carbon development and circular development, expand the denotation and connotation of sustainability. CBCSD should constantly study the emerging sustainability issues and put forward innovative sustainable solutions, to make new contributions for the sustainable development of the society, environment and the economy.

To conclude, I wish the conference a great success and a fruitful one.