China’s Polluting Companies: You Can Run But You Can’t Hide
February 27th, 2008 | by This is China! |Reuters reports in its article China factories move inland to avoid green scrutiny that Chinese companies are under pressure to clean up or shut down. So they are moving Westward, into China’s interior:
In certain counties “there are very, very loose environmental rules. They create local policies and rules saying that they’ll only check companies once a year … and ensure these companies will not be disturbed,” Ma added.
However…
Despite the trend of polluting factories moving inland to provinces such as Hunan, Guangxi, Zhejiang and Jiangxi, there have been examples of authorities hitting back.
That implies in my mind that as Western companies expand into the interior of China, they need to do their due diligence about just who their neighbors are. And don’t just necessarily follow the big names into the small cities: the Central Government recently tagged some MNCs like Pepsi, LG and Samsung for fouling the environment.
A new IPE report, written in collaboration with investment bank CLSA and green group WWF, found Chinese public and media pressure was playing a crucial role in filling a void in official enforcement, with complaints made to environmental authorities increasing 30 percent annually and hitting 600,000 cases in 2004.
A modern-day Chinese society that values environment over making money: now that’s downright anti-socialist with Chinese characteristics.
Bill Dodson
SUZHOU, China
4 Responses to “China’s Polluting Companies: You Can Run But You Can’t Hide”
By Thomas Chow on Feb 27, 2008 | Reply
Ironically, I had a draft post about environment and IPO’s ready to go for next week. I put the link here in case anyone is interested now.
By All Roads on Feb 27, 2008 | Reply
Bill,
Nice pickup. It is a topic I have been covering on Crossroads and All Roads Lately under the Clean up or Clean out line of thought.
What I find really interesting about the firms who are “closing and moving” is it is precisely these firms who are most likely to move, and it is precisely these companies that western firms should be wary of when buying from China, and it is precisely these firms that will end up closing for good at some point.
if you are interested in a recent presentation I gave at the Supply Chain Council’s CSR Summit, you can follow this link http://www.china-crossroads.com/index.php/2008/01/23/csr-supply-chain-summit-first-session/
hope all is well
R