On November 29, 2024, the 10th “2024 Xiangguang Annual Conference丨ESG and Sustainable Business Ecology Conference” was successfully concluded at Hyatt Regency Wangjing in Beijing.
This year's Xiangguang Annual Conference, with the theme of “Building an ESG Ecosystem for Effective Growth”, was guided by the China Academy of Management Sciences, co-organized by Xiangguang Future and China Business News, with the strategic support of Tencent SSV, and the support of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization's Office for the Promotion of Investment and Technology (China-Beijing).
The conference centered on the topics of “Keeping Positive and Innovating: ESG Ecology in Economic Reinvigoration”, “The Way of Inclusion between ESG and Sustainable Business”, and “Entrepreneurship Leads Sustainable Business Growth”. Gathering speakers from government, enterprises, investment institutions, international organizations, universities and research institutes of different natures, the conference provides participants with valuable opportunities to explore ESG ecological innovation and growth through keynote speeches, round-table dialogues, open-space exchanges, the release of sustainable business initiatives and achievements, as well as six eco-inclusive thematic parallel sub-forums.
In addition, attendees can browse Xiangguang Bazaar to learn how enterprises and social organizations can help ESG transformation with innovative services through immersive experience. According to statistics, the 2024 Xiangguang Annual Conference was broadcasted live on platforms such as CEC Media Think Tank, China Business News, Business School Magazine, Sina Finance, and VentureBang, and was viewed by more than 800,000 people online.
Keeping Positive and Innovating: ESG Ecology in Economic Reinvigoration
Corporate participation in ESG and social value innovation has become an important action that all companies need to look straight into. In the opening main forum of the ESG and Sustainable Business Ecology Conference, guests from the opening speech, keynote speeches, sustainable business initiatives, results release to the lightward roundtable discussion, showed the participants the trend of the growth and integration of economic value and social value in the current context, as well as the important role played by business in this trend. More importantly, the guests discussed the roles and responsibilities of different stakeholders in a world where business is gradually balancing economic and social values.
During the opening speeches, Mr. Zhang Xiaobo, Executive Deputy Secretary General of the Chinese Academy of Management Sciences, Mr. Ma Weihua, Honorary Chairman of China Social Enterprise and Impact Investing Forum (CSEIIF) and member of the Global Steering Committee of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Impact, Mr. Wang Shi, Founder of Vanke, Founder of Shamrock, Chairman of the Vanke Public Welfare Foundation, and Honorary Director of CSEIIF, Mr. Wang Shih, Deputy Director of the Institute of Industrial Economics of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, and member of the China Social Science Council. Wang Shi, Deputy Director of the Institute of Industrial Economics of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, and Ji Weimin, President/Editor-in-Chief of China Business Newspaper, gave opening speeches and broke the topic of this conference respectively.
Zhang Xiaobo suggested that the topic of sustainable development in the process of globalization has become a common challenge and opportunity for all parties, and requires a concerted response. In response, Honorary President Ma Weihua referred to the serious lag in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development process, explaining the reasons from three dimensions: the climate crisis, geopolitics, and the global economic recession.
Addressing the challenges and opportunities behind these causes, Ma Weihua believes that there is a growing global consensus, the most prevalent consensus, that ESG is one of the concepts to address global issues and achieve the SDGs, to meet these multiple challenges. The realization of the ESG concept is to be achieved through the form of sustainable business, which connotes the improvement of unequal stakeholder relationships and the adoption of fair choices in the revenue model. And to promote sustainable business, resources must be allocated according to market-oriented principles. Therefore, it is very important to establish a sustainable business ecology. He emphasized, “The significance of the ecology lies in government regulation, financial support, capacity building, information disclosure, standard setting, evaluation and consultation.”
In terms of concrete practice, Mr. Wang Shi believes that entrepreneurship and green innovation are the key driving forces for pushing towards sustainable social development, and that a high level of environmental standards is an important manifestation of a company's global competitiveness. “In the future, we hope to strengthen cooperation and exchange, form an industrial cluster effect, and drive more social forces to participate”, he said.
As the representative of the co-organizer of the conference, Ji Weimin further pointed out that in the face of the challenges of global sustainable development, “building effective growth” is becoming the core issue of the ESG ecosystem. The connotation of effective growth is that while pursuing economic benefits, enterprises should realize the balance of social and environmental values. The extension of effective growth points to all stakeholders in the entire value chain of an enterprise, including all material and equipment suppliers, channel providers, service providers, users, shareholders, employees, communities and so on, whose sense of gain, happiness and satisfaction will become the key indicators of the “second financial report” of an enterprise.
In the keynote speech session, Wu Yabin, Director of Investment and Technology Promotion Office (China-Beijing) of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization, Zhu Xufeng, Dean of the School of Public Administration at Tsinghua University, Executive Director of the Institute for Global Sustainability at Tsinghua University, and Director of the Committee on Sustainability Management of the Chinese Academy of Management Sciences, and Guo Siping, Head of Greater China, ESG & Climate Research, MSCI, gave keynote speeches, respectively. From the perspectives of green finance and investment, technological innovation, information disclosure, and ecological construction, they demonstrated the roles and functions of different main body innovations and technological innovations in the industry in the ESG ecology of effective growth of enterprises.
Director Wu Yabin pointed out that 2024 is an important milestone for China in the process of global ESG standardization, and the ESG ecology is taking shape under the dual role of policy guidance and market promotion. Emphasizing that green investment and technological innovation are the key paths to drive successful ESG transformation, Wu Yabin further called for close cooperation among multiple stakeholders, including government, business, and academia, in order to build a win-win ecology that encompasses social, environmental, and economic values.
President Zhu Xufeng further explained the social value of technological innovation with the topic of “How Artificial Intelligence Technology Can Help Achieve Carbon Neutrality”. He shared the value of AI technology in promoting the solution of environmental problems (including social problems) from the three levels of foundation, technology and application, and let the audience visualize the application of AI technology in environmental and social problems that need to be solved through cases.
He believes that we should use the productivity improvement brought by AIGC technology to help realize the dual-carbon goal. However, he also cautions to focus on the energy consumption and green energy supply of AI itself. “Look forward to the emergence of more energy-efficient and environmentally friendly green AI technologies in the next generation.” He said.
It is worth mentioning that more and more companies are emerging to fuel carbon emissions and carbon neutrality by leveraging AI technology; more and more companies are solving more specific social problems at lower costs through a combination of AI and technology.
At the end of her keynote speech, Ms. Siping Guo shared her thoughts on “Green Finance Accelerates Low Carbon Development” with the audience. “We are now observing that among the many key ESG issues, climate is one of the most important ones that the global investment and corporate communities are focusing on,” she said. Guo Siping highlighted that by the end of 2022, Chinese companies are proud to be the world's leader in capitalizing on climate transition opportunities and developing green technologies, with green revenue exposure already higher than fossil-fuel-based revenue exposure, and a higher percentage of green revenue than the global average. Capital markets are playing a very important role in the overall low-carbon transition. “As suggested by the keyword 'co-construction' of today's conference, there is a need here for the business community and the financial community to work together in the same direction, and for companies to continuously improve their climate transparency in order to support more effective decision-making in the capital markets.” She said.
From the interpretation of ESG ecology to the value positioning and sharing of ecological roles by specific participants in the ecology, more observations and insights conclude that sustainable business is increasingly becoming the best path for enterprises to put ESG concepts into practice.
Results Release Session. Ma Xiangyu, Deputy Director and Secretary General of the Sustainable Development Management Committee of the Chinese Academy of Management Sciences, President of the China Social Enterprise and Impact Investment Forum, and President of Xiangguang Future, released the “ESG and Sustainable Business Innovation Program” and “Sustainable Business Initiative”.
After one year's preparation and efforts, Xiangguang Future will launch two books, “Social Value Enterprise Innovation Practice Guide” and “Sustainable Business Strategy and Practice” in 2025. In addition, with Xiangguang Future's knowledge, methods and expert resources in social value innovation and sustainable business in the past ten years, Xiangguang Future will launch “ESG and Sustainable Business Manager Course (Online Course)”, “Sustainable Business Strategic Thinking and Practice Course (Module Course) ”, “Chief Sustainability Officer Course (Long-term Course)”, and “Corporate ESG Strategy and Landing Course (Customized Course)”. “We hope to cultivate more suitable talents for enterprises, industries and ecosystems through these courses to boost the needs of enterprises and society.” Ma Xiangyu said.
At the meeting, Xiangguang Future jointly launched the Sustainable Business Initiative with the Sustainability Management Committee of the Chinese Academy of Management Science, the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), Tencent SSV, PCG Law Firm, Rexfontaine, Dad's Review, etc. In Ma Xiangyu's opinion, enterprises participating in the initiative will demonstrate social responsibility, promote innovation and growth, strengthen stakeholder relations, and enhance competitiveness and reputation. “We hope more companies will join in.” Ma Xiangyu said.
Xiangguang Roundtable Session. Under the theme of “ESG and Sustainable Business for Effective Growth”, representatives from agriculture, finance, technology, energy and other enterprises were invited to discuss from different perspectives. Among them, Ms. Qu Lili, Assistant Editor-in-Chief of China Business News, Editor-in-Chief of Business School Magazine, and Head of Think Tank of China Business News, Mr. Tan Zexin, Founding Partner of Shenzhen Fengnong Holding (Group) Company Limited, Mr. Wang Ge, Managing Director of DBS Securities, and Founder of Thousands of Yues Public Welfare Fund, Mr. Wang Xuan, Head of ESG and Sustainable Development of Lenovo Group, Secretary General of Lenovo China Platform ESG Committee, Mr. Wang Xuejia, Head of Global Marketing Branding of Shenzhen Huabao New Energy Co. Ltd, Wang Xuejia, Head of Global Marketing and Branding, Wang Luhui, Founder and CEO of Carbon Stop (Beijing) Technology Co., Ltd, World Economic Forum's “Young Global Leaders of Greater China 2022”, and member of the GHG Protocol Scope 3 Expert Technical Group.
Tan Zexin shared their innovative practice in rural revitalization from the S level of ESG, through the establishment of the social enterprise “Everyday Learning Farming”, they have accumulated 7 million farmers to provide training, and provide farmers with comprehensive solutions, providing farmers with income at the same time, but also enhance the competitiveness of the enterprise. “We itself is to serve rural revitalization, itself service track and what we do every detail is closely related to S,” he said.
Wang Ge shared the three pillars of his organization's practice of sustainability, including responsible business, responsible operations, and social impact across banks. For example, at the business level, he shared innovative financing tools, including green loans, green bonds, blue bonds, and sustainable loans.
Wang Xuan shared Lenovo's innovative practices in ESG+AI. She believes that ESG is a very good hand for discovering new opportunities and identifying risks. Based on Lenovo's vision of “Smarter AI for All”, ESG and sustainable development has entered a new phase of ESG+AI, which is dedicated to creating inclusive AI, responsible AI and green AI. Last year, we established the ESG Business Department to build ESG sustainable development solutions and help enterprises in various industries realize low-carbon transformation and sustainable development.
Yan Lu Hui shared how Carbon Stop focuses on helping organizations in various industries to provide carbon management. In the sharing, Mr. Yann mentioned the carbon footprint data of its product shoes, citing a sports brand as an example. In response to how ESG can promote growth, Yan Lu Hui believes that there are five core drivers of ESG, including customers, investors, government, consumers, and employees. Taking employees as an example, he said that it is difficult for a company to maintain sustainable growth vitality if it does not do a good job of ESG.
In Wang Xuejia's view, ESG concepts are very crucial to be implanted in the strategic development of enterprises, and social growth is not in conflict with ESG. From the perspective of product DNA, Huabao has green attributes, mainly energy saving and emission reduction. “Whether there is a business model before ESG, or ESG before business model, the two are integrated, promoted at the same time, and parallel,” said Wang Xuejia.
The Way of Inclusion for ESG and Sustainable Business
In addition to the wonderful presentation of the opening main forum, the 2024 ESG and Sustainable Business Ecology Conference and more than 10 organizations from business consulting, universities, media, industry associations, foundations and other organizations that deeply support enterprises to practice ESG transformation will jointly hold six parallel sub-forums, with sustainable business, sustainable investment, sustainable cultural consumption, silver hair economy, Chief Sustainability Officer and ESG scholars, AI and sustainable development as the key words. sustainable development as keywords, from conceptual leadership, to innovative practices under social issues, to key innovative tools to help enterprises accelerate their ESG transformation, to jointly explore how multiple subjects and multiple productivity elements help enterprises practice ESG and sustainable business.
It is reported that the organizers of the sub-forum of the 2024 ESG and Sustainable Business Ecological Conference include Business Way Consulting, China Media Think Tank, China Impact Investing Network, Beijing Green Finance Association, Mother Fund Weekly, Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Financial Studies, School of Economics and Management of The Chinese University of Hong Kong (Shenzhen), Shenzhen Institute of Data Economy, Beijing Contemporary Art Foundation, Xianggu Guang Institute of Sustainability, Pangu Think Tank Institute of Ageing Society, 30-Person Forum on Elderly Society, and Pangu Think Tank Institute of Ageing and Social Research. Pangu Research Institute for the Elderly, 30 People Forum on Elderly Society, China Management Science Sustainable Development Management Committee, School of Public Affairs, University of Science and Technology of China, Jotao Consulting, Business School, China Business News.
Convergence sub-forum topics include: ESG and Sustainable Business; Sustainable Investment; China's Cultural Impact Investment and Sustainable Cultural Consumption; The Whistling Silver Economy; CSO and ESG Scholars: Dialogue and Insight on Theory and Practice; AI, Sustainability and New Quality Productivity.
At the same time, the meeting was also held with 19 social enterprises, commercial good enterprises, industry associations and social organizations from Auntie's Coming, BOTTLOOP, Hyatt Regency Beijing Wangjing, Starbucks Beijing, Beijing Benefactors Public Welfare Foundation, Chaoxinyi, Fanghua Zhenmao, JieTeng Culture, Lee Kum Kee, OATLY, Qingdao Baijia & Qingdao Anqi Science & Technology, Planet of Social Enterprises, TaoXi Berry Berry, Rack-Time Consulting WDEI, Magic Bag of Food Saving, Xiaolu Nature Education Center, China Management Science Society, China Business Newspaper, China Greening Foundation's “Happy Home” public welfare brand. The Chinese Academy of Management Science, China Business Newspaper, China Greening Foundation “Happy Home” public welfare brand of 19 social enterprises, commercial good enterprises, industry associations and social organizations to create a bazaar, through the bazaar, for the audience to present the social value of the innovation of the N solutions, and how these institutions and commercial enterprises to work together to help enterprises social value and economic innovation. Through the bazaar, we will present N solutions of social value innovation to the audience, and how these organizations cooperate with commercial enterprises to help enterprises realize win-win situation in terms of social and economic value.
In addition, the conference also cooperated with Dad's Evaluation, Dongbian Beast, Huabao Xinneng, OATLY, Yili and other enterprises to show participants more intuitively enterprises practicing social value innovation and sustainable business, and their innovative solutions to social and environmental problems.
Dad Assessment is committed to building an all-round, three-dimensional product safety service platform through professional consumer product safety assessment, one-stop testing technology and consulting services, and preferred shopping malls, to promote the high-quality development of the consumer goods industry, to continuously satisfy the people's needs for a better life, and to improve the people's sense of access, happiness and security. Since its development, Dad Review has more than 52 million fans across the network, and its five independent business lines have achieved a high degree of unity in economic and social benefits.
Eastside Beast is a beauty and lifestyle brand that adheres to the research of oriental herbs and follows the principles of sustainable development. From its inception, it has conducted sustainable experiments and co-benefit practices in all aspects of brand and product development, carefully selecting the sources and harvesting methods of natural ingredients, and continuing to do reverse empowerment of the ecology and humanities where the ingredients are located.
Huabao New Energy has deeply rooted the ESG concept in its corporate strategic planning, and sees economic growth and social value as complementary to each other. From light-charged outdoor power supply to PV tile villa green power, we promote the popularization of green energy.
OATLY has always been committed to conducting specialized research related to oats, promoting human health and sustainable development of the planet by developing the inherent properties of oats, a worldwide cultivated crop. Silent Barista, initiated by OATLY, aims to provide training, examination support and employment support to hearing-impaired young people who aspire to become baristas, so that they can be self-confident, self-reliant and integrated into the society, and at the same time, convey the positive values of OATLY to the society.
Yili has explored the “dual footprint” solution of “carbon footprint + water footprint”, led partners from upstream and downstream of the industrial chain, built five “zero-carbon factories”, and jointly released 13 low carbon national and group standards. It has jointly issued 13 low-carbon national and group standards, and 41 factories have been awarded the title of “green factory” at the national level. It has established the “Zero Carbon Alliance” with 120 global strategic partners, and 88% of the members of the Zero Carbon Alliance have realized low-carbon transformation.
Entrepreneurship Leads to Sustainable Business Growth
In the process of exploring the concept of sustainable business to practice and then to ecology, cognition and recognition are the first step to consensus. The closing main forum contains the closing keynote speech and the organizer's closing speech. By showcasing the deep insights and practices of subjects and individuals from different fields, such as enterprises, investment institutions, universities, social organizations, etc., on ESG, social value innovation and sustainable business concepts, as well as the support of different pioneers on ESG and sustainable business ecology, it shows the participants the vibrant vitality of ESG and sustainable business ecology.
In the keynote speech session, Lin Chui-Zu, International Academician of the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences and Academician of the Hong Kong Academy of Engineering, Xiao Liming, Vice President of Tencent's Sustainable Social Value, and Lv Jianzhong, Director of GRI, Deputy Director of the Sustainable Development Management Committee of the Chinese Academy of Management Sciences, and Vice President of the Green and Low-Carbon Sub-Committee of the Shanghai Association of Foreign Investors, respectively, delivered their keynote speeches.
Academician Lin ChuiZhou shared his insights on the future development direction of enterprises with the topic of “Challenges and Responses to Corporate Sustainability in a Rapidly Changing Technological Environment”. He believed that the corporate sector around the world has encountered a very significant challenge, and that many of the original benchmark companies in the society can not be sustained. For example, many leading enterprises in the United States, such as Exxon Gasoline, Alcoa, General Motors, General Electric, DuPont Chemical, United Technologies, Hewlett-Packard, Intel, etc., have been removed from the Dow Jones 30 in the past decade due to improper operation. These are all giants in the U.S. in various industries of food, clothing, housing, and transportation, and what a major change to be subjected to a major squeeze. However, ESG is an impetus for change and an opportunity for the future. How to find a long-term value in such a background and change, “Business leaders have to manage the change, to understand that ‘what goes around comes around, and what goes around comes around’, and to go back to our traditional Chinese concept of corporate culture in order to cope with it.” Lin ChuiZhou said.
Mr. Xiao Liming shared “Social Value Innovation - A Driving Force for Sustainable Corporate Growth” with the examples of Tencent's exploration of rural management talent cultivation and digital services in recent years. He introduced that Tencent has explored a road of sustainable development over the past three years by promoting the implementation of a sustainable social value innovation strategy, which includes “pilot demonstration - scaling - catalyzing”. --With the development of the enterprise, Tencent recognizes that on the basis of doing public welfare and charity, it should integrate social responsibility more deeply into its core business and products and services. To fulfill their social responsibility, companies should think more proactively about how to promote the sustainable development of society and practice “technology for good”. Tencent is exploring the three aspects of product-driven, innovation-funded, and on-the-ground practice to enhance its knowledge of corporate social responsibility, change its value orientation, transform its business decisions, expand its issues, and evolve its methodology, and is looking forward to continuing to co-creatively work with all sectors of the community to promote more social value innovation issues from pilot demonstration to large-scale promotion, and then to the formation of a catalytic fission effect that will drive more people and subjects to work together to create more social value. We look forward to working with all sectors of society to promote more social value innovation issues from pilot demonstration to large-scale promotion and then to the formation of catalytic fission effect, so as to drive more people and more subjects to create more social value together.
Dr. Jianzhong Lv shared his thoughts on “ESG and Sustainable Business - The Engine of Sustainable Growth”. In his opinion, enterprises and entrepreneurs perceive sustainability from the lowest level of logic, and in order to break through the perception, he proposed a four-point shift, including realizing the transition from traditional business model and classical management learning model to sustainable business model; integrating enterprise growth and development with social inclusion and environmental protection policies and trends; adopting responsible resource management, technological innovation, and encouraging sustainable consumption and production; ensuring economic growth with conservation and environmental protection policies and trends; and ensuring economic growth with conservation. He proposed four shifts, including realizing the transition from traditional business models and classical management learning models to sustainable business models; integrating business growth and development with social inclusion and environmental protection policies and trends; adopting responsible resource management, technological innovation, and encouraging sustainable consumption and production; and ensuring that economic growth is compatible with the preservation of resource ecosystems and the well-being of future generations.
It is worth mentioning that in Dr. Lv's new book “Sustainable Business Strategy and Practice” to be published in 2025, he has also made a systematic and comprehensive elaboration on this topic, put forward the original “Sustainable Business Strategy Design Model”, and proposed a large number of practical methodologies and cases to provide new inspiration and guidance for enterprises that wish to carry out ESG and sustainable business transformation or to do better. This will provide new inspiration and guidance for enterprises that want to transform or do better in ESG and sustainable business.
At the end of the conference, the host of the conference, Zhang Qiang, Executive Director of the Sustainability Management Committee of the Chinese Academy of Management Sciences, Chairman of the China Social Enterprise and Impact Investing Forum, and Professor of the School of Government at Beijing Normal University, gave a closing speech to the conference. He shared that we have heard many exciting stories of exploration at the conference, and met a lot of peer partners who have brightened our own eyes, and made it clearer to stick to the positive view of sustainable development. In the face of the current uncertainty, we need to start tomorrow and endeavor to start the journey of “knowing and doing”! Knowing” here is not only ‘knowledge’, but also ‘conscience’. We should return to our true nature as human beings, search for the meaning of life in our desire for love, knowledge and sympathy for human suffering, and be a person who insists on long-term values. We will return to our true nature as a human being, searching for the meaning of life in our desire for love, knowledge, and compassion for human suffering.
Editor's Notes:
The 2024 Xiangguang Annual Conference marks an important milestone in the development of China's ESG ecology. The conference not only released the first “Sustainable Business Initiative” in China, but more importantly, it elevated ESG from conceptual to practical level, demonstrating the synergistic eco-construction among enterprises, government and academia. The key highlight is that the participants no longer focus on ESG theory, but on the core proposition of “effective growth”. From Tencent's “Technology for Good” to Lenovo's “Universal AI”, from rural revitalization of agribusinesses to green transformation of energy companies, all reflect the trend of ESG from compliance to value innovation. Of particular interest is that the conference emphasized that ESG is not a cost, but an important engine for long-term competitiveness. This shift in philosophy will accelerate the sustainable development process of Chinese companies.
