On November 23rd, the 12th China International Forum on Corporate Social Responsibility was held at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, where the “2016 Responsibility Awards” were also awarded. With the theme of "Goodwill: Seeking Responsibility", the forum brought together hundreds of guests from governmental bodies, private enterprises, public organizations and academia to collectively discuss how to adhere to the principles of corporate social responsibility while also maintaining sustainable development given China’s slowing economy.

Mr. Yuan Yafei, Chairman of Sanpower Group

Sanpower Group’s founder and Chairman, Mr. Yuan Yafei attended the event both as a representative of his company and also as the Vice Chairman of the CPPCC National Committee. He shared his story of helping protect wildlife through Sanpower’s cooperation with the British Royal Foundation. He explained, “The Chinese people are a caring society, so we need to take more responsibility as corporations. First, be responsible for our employees; second, be responsible for our businesses; third, be responsible for society."

Yuan Yafei continued by explaining that Sanpower has an unwritten rule – never rush to dismiss employees. He believes that every employee must have value of some kind and that it is important to help all employees find where they are most suitable. At present, including all of its subsidiaries, there are more than 100,000 employees that Sanpower helps manage. During the process of corporate development, Sanpower not only has been able to retain many employees who have worked for the business for more than 10 years, but also has been able recruit a large number of top global talents. He thus sees the Sanpower’s responsibility to its employees as playing an integral role in the company’s development and internationalization.

Yuan Yafei also expressed that real social responsibility is also about being responsible towards the enterprise itself. For this, he stressed the importance of integrity, “For enterprises, the golden rule of ‘do not do unto others what you do not want done unto you’ is very important. Over the years, this type of integrity has been embedded in Sanpower’s corporate culture, as well as throughout the company’s development process.” The Chairman elaborated that this was also part of the company’s efforts to utilize traditional Confucian values, “We often remind ourselves of the balance that is needed between ‘big’ and ‘strong,’ between ‘fast’ and ‘stable’, between ‘what to do’ and ‘what to not do’. Chinese Confucian culture is very important for our business operations – both to do a good job but also to maintain balance.”

Over the years, Sanpower has actively participated in a number of philanthropic programs, with over RMB 300 million in charitable donations. In 2015, Yuan Yafei and Prince William jointly set up a wildlife protection foundation. This year the fund has been used to launch a series of domestic and international activities to help promote the protection of wild and endangered animals. Through such focus on corporate social responsibility, Sanpower continues to establish its own unique development path and demonstrate its responsibility to both the company’s local community and the wider world.