Business and Enviromental Issues

[Rob_Hugo@PortNW]

How can local Chinese governments see protection of the environment as good for business? What should American and European companies doing business in China do to ensure ethical environmental practices? Green values? -

I posed the above questions to a Chinese American COO with headquarters in Pudong. His reply follows:

China will do anything and everything to keep its economic growth rate. The environmental problem does not rest with China, it is with the countries coming into China." What are these countries doing about these issues? "The multinationals need to set and enforce the standards by which their companies should adhere."

In terms of top business concerns in China, his response appears next to listed concerns presented in the seminar: Doing Business in China.

No good staff - agree
Red tape - disagree
Staff turnover rate is big - disagree
Lack of legal certainty - disagree
Wage inflation disagree
Poor data and market research disagree
Corruption disagree
Cultural and linguistic differences disagree
Inadequate physical infrastructure agree

"Each business will have its own challenges and they will need to have contingency plans in place to deal with operating in China," he says. "If you are doing this for Wall Street — (referencing FENDI CEO Michael Burke's recent comment) —you are going to lose in the long term. It has to make sense for your business."

[Anonymous]

I was particularly intrigued by the news that N. Korea is now off the U.S terrorist list. For the next 45 days President Bush has lifted U.S sanctions that were currently held against N. Korea. I am of the opinion that it has to do completely with our slow economy and that these sanctions are merely a way of opening up consumer operations. Can anybody provide any insight on this matter? I will try to look up links to find out more.

[Anonymous]

I was searching the forum for a space to post some serious information regarding the environmental issues facing the globe and the Chinese in-particular. I was actually kind of taken aback to see the few views on this thread as opposed to others. The number of views was eight. The number of replies was one. In addition, the topic was on the second page, meaning that it was not continually being updated, discussed and debated.

Why are we so focused on Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, and Cambodian restaurants but not fed up with and fervently conversing over the environmental challenges that are slapping us in the face!?

I have two articles that I am recommending for a thorough look into the ecological disasters Chinese are facing. The fist is summarized by the publication who published it, Foreign Affiars. The name of the article is "The Great Leap Backward". The editors summarize,

"Summary: China's environmental woes are mounting, and the country is fast becoming one of the leading polluters in the world. The situation continues to deteriorate because even when Beijing sets ambitious targets to protect the environment, local officials generally ignore them, preferring to concentrate on further advancing economic growth. Really improving the environment in China will require revolutionary bottom-up political and economic reforms."

Although you have just read the summary let me tell you a couple of my impressions. We need to do everything we can to combat the horrible pollution our industrialized nations are dumping into our eco-system! The article, written by Elizabeth C. Economy, purports that one certain days 25% of the particulate matter found in LA comes from China!!! Read on.

The second article I would like everyone to read is attached below. It is about the water crisis facing China today. Noam Chompsky said that the next world war would be fought over water. Well, after looking into the issues China is facing, I would not doubt that they might be a force to be reckoned with!

[Anonymous]

Plastic bags in China

According to the China Daily, recently after much consideration the Chinese government decided a ban lightweight thin plastic bags and limit plastic bag use when items are sold especially in grocery type stores. This took effect in June. It put several plastic bag companies out of business. Before there were plastic bags everywhere polluting trees plantings in the streets and landfills everywhere. Now you see few plastic bags on the street. You have to ask for one in the store, and the store charges for them about 2rmb each. Everyone has adjusted to this. This could not happen in America.
So while you can point at all the pollution in China, they also have come up with some fast fixes.

[Anonymous]

Planet in Peril was a 2007 CNN documentary that explores our changing planet. Last year, I downloaded the documentary from iTunes and showed it to my econ class. My students found the entire film fascinating, but I think the impact of the film could be more effective in my economics class if I focused on the business and environmental issues covered in the film. This year, I will focus on the section that discusses factories in China and their effect on the people that live near them - this part of the film is very moving and disturbing at the same time.

I suggest watching the whole film for your own interest and picking the most pertinent sections to share with your classes...

Planet in Peril

[Anonymous]

The "Planet in Peril" was definitley an eye opener. Consider this:

"The 2007 population estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau and the United Nations Population Division set China's current population at around 1.3 billion people, and India's at around 1.1 billion."
Is this a business or an environment issue?

[Anonymous]

China Income

I have some newer information to consider on China. The China Daily (issue: August 25-31, 2008) stated that the per capita net income of farmers was $545usd last year. The per capita disposable income of urban residents was $1715usd last year or 2.3 time more.
This clearly shows the wide disparity of ordinary wealth in China. There are at least 500-600 million farmers in China.

:~

[Anonymous]

Regarding fixes, here is one of China' latest greening schemes. China seems to be attempting to clean up some of its auto pollution through the imposition of laws as evidenced here-
http://news.mongabay.com/2008/1013-china.html

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