An international conference on corporate social responsibility and corporate citizenship has been held in Beijing, featuring over 500 prominent business leaders, government representatives, civil society leaders and academia.

Jointly organized by the United Nations Development Programme and the China Enterprise Confederation, the event provided a unique platform to exchange experiences between domestic and multinational companies operating in China and showcase the powerful contributions that businesses can make in building a harmonious society through the integration of the Principles of the United Nations Global Compact into the company’s strategic vision and operating practices.

"The forum will provide participants with practical direction and tools to improve their organization and its contributions to building a harmonious society," said Zhang Yanning, executive president of CEC at the opening ceremony.

Highly refined and solutions-oriented, this event was an opportunity for peer-to-peer interactions and exchanges on pragmatic solutions and operational toolkits for challenges and dilemmas facing the corporate community in China, such as CSR as a tool to enhanced business performance and competitiveness, CSR from a branding perspective, how to integrate CSR into corporate strategies, and the practical meaning of responsible corporate citizenship.

"Business, trade and investment are essential pillars of peace and prosperity. As a major component of society, business has a vital role and a clear responsibility to help address the world’s most pressing challenges and improve lives of the poor," said UN Resident Coordination and Resident Representative in China Khalid Malik.

Malik stressed that this year marks the midway point in the efforts to fulfill the Millennium Development Goals, adopted by world leaders six years ago to rid the world of poverty, and to promote human dignity, equality, peace and environmental sustainability by 2015.

"The Millennium Development Goals can not be achieved without the private sector participation," Malik said.

This CSR conference in Beijing was a preparatory meeting for the UN Global Compact Leaders Summit held on July 5-6 in Geneva, Switzerland. More than 80 Chinese business leaders will participate in the Leaders Summit, which is the largest group for Chinese business to take part in a high-level global CSR event.