China’s Five Year Plan: A big question

May 23, 2012 | Blogs

China’s got a five-year plan.

A five-year plan? Ha! Ha! Ha! They went out when the Berlin Wall came down.

A five-year plan? Ho! Ho! Ho! Haven’t they heard of the endless benefits of liberal, free-market capitalism?

A five-year plan that from 2011 to 2015 will cut energy intensity by 16% and carbon intensity by 17%? Oh. Well, maybe it’s not a laughing matter after all.

As regards to CSR/Sustainability a lot of thought has gone into how the West can straighten out the Chinese. Western NGOs say they must sort out their labour conditions, human rights record and environmental practice.

Maybe so.

But as the Chinese economy is gaining strength, Chinese ownership of western companies is increasing.

Isn’t it time to give a bit of thought to how the Western CSR agenda can learn from the Chinese?