The Alfred Herrhausen Society, Daimler Chrysler AG and China Europe International Business School (Ceibs) will be debating these and other issues together with around 150 international participants at the “Joint Forum on New Partnership between Politics and Economics – Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainable Development” in Shanghai on October 14, 2005. The AHS initiates discussion forums and promptly discusses and analyses current political topics in cooperation with partners from home and abroad, such as The Economist, the Deutsches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung (DIW), international think-tanks and foundations. Through this network, it is able to react quickly to current developments. The conference’s guest list consisted of high-ranking personalities: Georg Kell, Head of UN General Secretary Kofi Annan’s Global Compact Initiative, Xiao Lianbing, Deputy Director of the International Department of the Guangming Daily newspaper, Benjamin Cashore, Professor at Yale University and Colin Grassie, CEO of Deutsche Bank Asia Pacific plus many more.

Companies assuming social responsibility and seeking sustainable development were hitherto largely unknown in the People’s Republic of China. Consequently, fundamental answers were sought at the conference.

The main discussion points addressed by the “Instruments and Tools for a New Partnership between Business and Society” panel included the questions “how can the concept of CSR be implemented in China?” and “should there be a ‘Chinese way’ for CSR?”. The relevance of the topic was also reflected by a major resonance in the Chinese press. Wang Zhile, Director of China’s Trade Ministry’s Multinational Company Research Centre also called for the incorporation of corporate responsibility in operative business: “we must make the Chinese people aware that CSR does not mean a separate task and together, try to make social responsibility public”, said Wang. Wolfgang Nowak, Spokesman of the Executive Board of the Alfred Herrhausen Society, described the various CSR initiatives as “little drops” and expressed his hopes that they would become a major rainfall. “CSR serves to create trust between companies and citizens and is simultaneously a dialogue between both.” In any event, the Chinese have taken up their tools.