Wednesday, 28 September at The Highbury Centre

Wang Liwei was in a good position to present to the Society a talk on his experiences in the voluntary sector and social responsibility in China today. As Vice-mayor in Guan County, Shandong Province, editor of the philanthropy magazine, Charitarian, and running his own vocational school in Shandong, and manager of several companies, he was well-placed to cover the subject: National Growth, Corporate Development and Social Responsibility.

Mr Wang introduced the topic by summing up past experience of social policies from the Socialist period, when social services, such as medical care and education, were provided free or at a minimum cost to the public - to the Reform Period, when such provisions have to be paid for by individuals and their families. Nowadays, although the standard of such social welfare facilities has improved, many people have not been able to afford them.

This leaves a gap, once covered by the State, and now being filled largely though voluntary services, such as NGOs, both foreign and Chinese). The idea of charity was at first regarded with some suspicion by a government which believed that people were primarily inspired to make money for themselves. How could Chinese people be interested in social responsibility and how could foreigners with their discredited missionary past be genuine in their concern for people’s welfare?

As China opened up to foreign influence and contact during the 1980s, and foreign companies started investing in the Chinese market, the idea of NGOs (non-government organizations) and voluntary and charity organizations sprung up and gained credibility. Companies, especially newly founded Chinese and foreign corporations, started to put funds aside and develop programmes for social development, not only for their staff members, but for the community at large. Under the banner of ‘Corporate Development, Social Responsibility’, foreign companies have inspired a new culture of social responsibility, and Chinese companies (both public and private), charities and volunteers have responded with growing enthusiasm.

Mr Wang described how companies are now being forced by public opinion to demonstrate their goodwill towards the community, particularly in those areas and situations where there is greatest deprivation or need, by sponsoring, promoting or financing schemes to benefit society. One example cited it a development project by Tesco’s, which is trying to enter the Chinese market and build its first stores there. It has been stipulated that this scheme should be linked to a commitment to fund or finance the building of schools. These schemes also have to be coordinated with government ones, otherwise there can be duplication of effort and wasted resources. While the Chinese government insists that foreign corporate investments in China have to be combined by companies’ investment in social development, companies are now proactively formulating such schemes in their bids to enter the Chinese market, if only for reasons of reputation, let alone social commitment.

Mr Wang spoke very openly and boldly about the relationship between state and voluntary sector and between central and local authorities. As he saw it, the voluntary agencies and NGOs could pose a threat, challenge or stimulus to governmental schemes for social development. Where state agencies had often been previously suspicious of or inimical to non-official schemes of social projects, now they more often collaborated in such projects, which was most clearly evidenced in last years rescue and rehabilitation efforts after the Sichuan earthquake. It was also a wonderful example of how the voluntary spirit emerged, especially amongst the youth, in a time of crisis. A negative aspect of this case was that many of the schools which had been destroyed in this disaster were built on slender budgets by aid agencies and construction companies based in places like Hong Kong.

Two further problems which Mr Wang exposed were corruption and cooption. Corruption is a serious aspect of the money-oriented, self-seeking society which has emerged in recent decades, but it also affects the field of charity and aid sectors. Though the government keeps this under some control, like other aspects of bureaucracy and loop-holes in the legal system, this remains a serious problem in the voluntary sector, and corporate firms, including foreign companies wishing to be involved in CDSR are advised to be wary and careful in whom or what projects they place their trust. Mr Wang’s magazine Charitarian tries to give guidance in this respect.

Co-option is an aspect which shows how successful the voluntary sector has been in social development and changing people’s social consciousness. When government at various levels cooperates or indeed co-opts NGO schemes and insists that government officials have to head the voluntary organizations and schemes, this is a great leap forward in the field of social responsibility, whether corporate or otherwise. The danger, of course, is that such supervision or control by officialdom can stifle initiative from below or indeed crush it with bureaucracy.

All these issues were discussed openly, with lively questions from the audience of around 35, who showed great interest in the subject and appreciation for Mr Wang’s talk. The chairman thanked him and Clare Pearson, who is working with him in Beijing and who introduced him to speak to the Society.