Corporate Social Responsibility with ‘Chinese Characteristics’ an Overview of the Obligations of Chinese State-Owned Enterprises

Abstract

AbstractThis chapter sheds new light on the mechanisms used to monitor Chinese multinational corporations’ (MNCs) compliance with their corporate social responsibility (CSR) obligations. China’s state-owned MNCs play a pivotal role in implementing the Belt and Road Initiative and continue to account for roughly 30 per cent of domestic GDP. SOEs’ position within China’s governance system and the ideological features of China’s governance model make CSR obligations a binding regulatory duty of state-owned MNCs and of their domestic and foreign subsidiaries. In Western legal systems, CSR and its more recent evolution of business and human rights are understood as a form of regulation public and private enterprises may adopt on an entirely voluntary basis and integrate within their business model. China’s case is obviously different. The first part of this chapter places the notion of CSR (gongsi shehui zeren) against the backdrop of non-state-based compliance and monitoring mechanisms specific to state-owned MNCs. Next, the chapter describes the central CSR norms and mechanisms grounded within the system of regulations of the Chinese Communist Party. In its concluding section, the chapter presents some reflections on the main features of CSR in China and their relevance to the Belt and Road Initiative.KeywordsCorporate social responsibility (CSR)Multinational corporations (MNCs)ChinaHuman rights