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China’s quick economic recovery from COVID-19 has presented a narrow but vast opportunity to build an economy that is cleaner, fairer, and safer. Will China grab this opportunity? The answer rests with both business managers and the government. Based on a questionnaire survey of 1160 owners and managers of companies headquartered in 32 regions of China and covering 30 industries, this paper explores how COVID-19 has impacted Chinese business, especially with regard to the three dimensions of sustainability (economic, social, and environmental). The results suggest that Chinese companies’ sustainability priorities have been shifted towards the social dimension both during COVID-19 and into the post-pandemic phase, regardless of the type of ownership, company size, or market focus (domestic, overseas, or mixture of the two). However, all types of company prioritize the need for economic sustainability in the post-pandemic phase and in relative terms the importance of the environmental dimension has been diminished. Hence the potential for a post-pandemic environmental rebound effect in China is clear. But it does not have to be the case if Chinese businesses and the government take actions to change its recovery plans to embrace the environmental dimension of sustainability. The paper puts forward some suggestions and recommendations for businesses and the government.
Dongyong Zhang; Mengge Hao; Stephen Morse. Is Environmental Sustainability Taking a Backseat in China after COVID-19? The Perspective of Business Managers. Sustainability 2020, 12, 10369 .
AMA StyleDongyong Zhang, Mengge Hao, Stephen Morse. Is Environmental Sustainability Taking a Backseat in China after COVID-19? The Perspective of Business Managers. Sustainability. 2020; 12 (24):10369.
Chicago/Turabian StyleDongyong Zhang; Mengge Hao; Stephen Morse. 2020. "Is Environmental Sustainability Taking a Backseat in China after COVID-19? The Perspective of Business Managers." Sustainability 12, no. 24: 10369.
The need for effective solid waste management (SWM) is an important environmental and public health issue. As a key way of minimizing municipal solid waste (MSW), source separation has in recent years become the centre of discussion in China. Following the example of Shanghai, the city of Zhengzhou introduced its mandatory waste separation measures on December 1, 2019. But does the mandatory regulation work? This study aims to investigate the waste separation behaviour of college students in Zhengzhou under the mandatory regulation and the motivations behind students’ behaviour. A questionnaire-based survey was carried out on 62 university campuses in Zhengzhou City, and a total of 1747 valid questionnaires were completed across these campuses and analysed. It was found that under Zhengzhou’s mandatory measures, college students do have a basic knowledge of waste separation and most are familiar with where kitchen waste should be placed, but they have problems categorizing some recyclables such as glass, hazardous waste such as lightbulbs and other waste such as cigarette butts and napkins. It was also found that college students’ waste separation behaviour, their attitude towards waste separation and the convenience of waste sorting facilities in Zhengzhou in the mandatory era have been improved compared to the era prior to mandatory waste separation. The results also indicate that most of college students (86.7%) always or sometimes undertake waste separation, and students majoring in science and senior year undergraduates are more likely to participate in the practice of waste separation. Other influencing factors of college students’ waste separation behaviour include convenience of waste sorting facilities, their willingness to separate waste, knowledge of a related field, attitude towards waste separation, peer pressure as well as the existence of a reward and penalty system. Management strategies for improving college students’ waste separation behaviour under mandatory regulation are also discusses and a number of recommendations for improvement are made.
Mengge Hao; Dongyong Zhang; Stephen Morse. Waste Separation Behaviour of College Students Under a Mandatory Policy in China: A Case Study of Zhengzhou City. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 2020, 17, 8190 .
AMA StyleMengge Hao, Dongyong Zhang, Stephen Morse. Waste Separation Behaviour of College Students Under a Mandatory Policy in China: A Case Study of Zhengzhou City. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2020; 17 (21):8190.
Chicago/Turabian StyleMengge Hao; Dongyong Zhang; Stephen Morse. 2020. "Waste Separation Behaviour of College Students Under a Mandatory Policy in China: A Case Study of Zhengzhou City." International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 17, no. 21: 8190.
Waste characterization is the first step to a successful waste management system. This paper explores the trend of solid waste generated on a university campus (Longzi Lake Campus of Henan Agricultural University) in China and the factors that influence the potential for recycling of the waste. Face-to-face interviews were carried out for 12 consecutive months on a campus in central China, and 416 interviewees were questioned. It was found that 7.32 tonnes of solid waste were generated on the campus each day, of which 79.31% were recyclable. The characterization of major waste streams are discussed, and the results are compared with comparable data from five universities in a range of other countries (Mexico, Canada, Malaysia, Nigeria, and Ethiopia). The annual growth of GDP per capita in China over the past five years before the research appeared to play an important role in the increasing of food waste on university campus, and the proportion of food waste is found to have a positive influence on recycling potential.
Dongyong Zhang; Mengge Hao; Sida Chen; Stephen Morse. Solid Waste Characterization and Recycling Potential for a University Campus in China. Sustainability 2020, 12, 3086 .
AMA StyleDongyong Zhang, Mengge Hao, Sida Chen, Stephen Morse. Solid Waste Characterization and Recycling Potential for a University Campus in China. Sustainability. 2020; 12 (8):3086.
Chicago/Turabian StyleDongyong Zhang; Mengge Hao; Sida Chen; Stephen Morse. 2020. "Solid Waste Characterization and Recycling Potential for a University Campus in China." Sustainability 12, no. 8: 3086.
With a long history, large population, rapid economic growth, and major social transformation in recent years and the launch of the Belt and Road Initiative, China has increasingly become an important global player. However, the negative social and environmental consequences of such a fast and extensive economic expansion are becoming significant. A series of measures have been taken to tackle the current problems faced by the country, including the issuing of new laws and regulations, and the most recent is China’s ban on plastic waste imports. However, there is a significant gap between Chinese laws and their implementation. Therefore, more people are putting their hope in a combination of legislation and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) to help address the current social and environmental problems faced by the country. This paper discusses the drivers of CSR in China and compares them to the drivers of CSR in the West. The paper also explores the extent to which CSR can make a contribution to solving the sustainable development challenges faced by China and discusses possible solutions if the current CSR pattern fails. Finally, the paper makes suggestions for future research on CSR in China.
Dongyong Zhang; Stephen Morse; Qiaoyun Ma. Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainable Development in China: Current Status and Future Perspectives. Sustainability 2019, 11, 4392 .
AMA StyleDongyong Zhang, Stephen Morse, Qiaoyun Ma. Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainable Development in China: Current Status and Future Perspectives. Sustainability. 2019; 11 (16):4392.
Chicago/Turabian StyleDongyong Zhang; Stephen Morse; Qiaoyun Ma. 2019. "Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainable Development in China: Current Status and Future Perspectives." Sustainability 11, no. 16: 4392.
This paper explores the connection between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and food safety and how best to promote CSR in Chinese food companies by comparing two groups of food companies, one which had food safety incidents in the previous three years and one which had no food safety incidents during the same period. Managers of 498 food companies in 17 regions of China were surveyed. It was found that companies where the senior management gave higher levels of support and commitment to CSR and companies that had higher levels of CSR engagement had lower food safety incident rates. Motives for CSR engagement by food companies are the expected benefits that might accrue to the company including helping to achieve strategic objectives, improving daily management, ensuring food safety, improving internal cooperation, enhancing food quality, improving employees’ skills at work, increasing employee benefit and improving their morale, and maintaining business integrity. It was also found that the external factors for CSR engagement are consumer demand, as well as pressures from the government and from other companies in the supply chain. Finally, the paper makes a number of suggestions for improvements in policy.
Dongyong Zhang; Qiaoyun Ma; Stephen Morse. Motives for Corporate Social Responsibility in Chinese Food Companies. Sustainability 2018, 10, 117 .
AMA StyleDongyong Zhang, Qiaoyun Ma, Stephen Morse. Motives for Corporate Social Responsibility in Chinese Food Companies. Sustainability. 2018; 10 (2):117.
Chicago/Turabian StyleDongyong Zhang; Qiaoyun Ma; Stephen Morse. 2018. "Motives for Corporate Social Responsibility in Chinese Food Companies." Sustainability 10, no. 2: 117.
This study investigated the current situation of food risk management (FRM) in Chinese companies and the factors that influence the effectiveness of risk management measures. FRM is considered from the perspective of food company managers in 161 food companies surveyed in the Provinces of Henan and Hubei, Central China. Results suggest that the current FRM situation in China is poor, and the most important factor influencing the effectiveness of FRM measures is the financial resource allocated to FRM. Other affecting factors include the level of corporate social responsibility (CSR) engagement of the company and the company size (measured by the number of employees). The better the CSR, the better the FRM; the larger the company, the less effective the FRM measures are. The study provides some suggestions for policy-making and further research.
Dongyong Zhang; Stephen Morse; Bingjun Li. Risk management of Chinese food companies; a management perspective. Journal of Risk Research 2015, 20, 118 -134.
AMA StyleDongyong Zhang, Stephen Morse, Bingjun Li. Risk management of Chinese food companies; a management perspective. Journal of Risk Research. 2015; 20 (1):118-134.
Chicago/Turabian StyleDongyong Zhang; Stephen Morse; Bingjun Li. 2015. "Risk management of Chinese food companies; a management perspective." Journal of Risk Research 20, no. 1: 118-134.
With a unique cultural background and fast economic development, China’s adoption of corporate social responsibility (CSR) has become the center of discussion worldwide, and its successful implementation will have great significance for global sustainability. This paper aims to explore how CSR has given way to economic growth in China since the start of economic transition and its cultural, historical and political background, and how this has affected or been affected by the economic performance of firms. Thus, the recent calls for China to adopt CSR in its industries follow a period where the country arguably had one of the strongest implementations of CSR approaches in the world. This transition is considered in the context of a case study of a Chinese state-owned enterprise (SOE) and a group of small private firms in the same industrial sector in Zhengzhou City, Henan Province over a time span of eight years. While the CSR of the SOE has been steadily decreasing along with the change of ownership structure, its economic performance did not improve as expected. On the other hand, with a steady improvement in economic performance, the small private firms are showing a great reluctance to engage in CSR. The results indicate that implementation of CSR in China needs both the manager’s ethical awareness and the change of institutional framework. The results also raise the question as to whether CSR is a universal concept with a desired means of implementation across the developed and developing world.
Dongyong Zhang; Stephen Morse; Uma Kambhamptati; Bingjun Li. Evolving Corporate Social Responsibility in China. Sustainability 2014, 6, 7646 -7665.
AMA StyleDongyong Zhang, Stephen Morse, Uma Kambhamptati, Bingjun Li. Evolving Corporate Social Responsibility in China. Sustainability. 2014; 6 (11):7646-7665.
Chicago/Turabian StyleDongyong Zhang; Stephen Morse; Uma Kambhamptati; Bingjun Li. 2014. "Evolving Corporate Social Responsibility in China." Sustainability 6, no. 11: 7646-7665.
Since the prolonged, severe smog that blanketed many Chinese cities in first months of 2013, living in smog has become “normal” to most people living in mainland China. This has not only caused serious harm to public health, but also resulted in massive economic losses in many other ways. Tackling the current air pollution has become crucial to China’s long-term economic and social sustainable development. This paper aims to find the causes of the current severe air quality and explore the possible solutions by reviewing the current literature, and by comparing China’s air pollution regulations to that of the post London Killer Smog of 1952, in the United Kingdom (UK). It is hoped that China will learn the lesson from the UK, and decouple its economic growth from the detrimental impact of environment. Policy suggestions are made.
Dongyong Zhang; Junjuan Liu; Bingjun Li. Tackling Air Pollution in China—What do We Learn from the Great Smog of 1950s in LONDON. Sustainability 2014, 6, 5322 -5338.
AMA StyleDongyong Zhang, Junjuan Liu, Bingjun Li. Tackling Air Pollution in China—What do We Learn from the Great Smog of 1950s in LONDON. Sustainability. 2014; 6 (8):5322-5338.
Chicago/Turabian StyleDongyong Zhang; Junjuan Liu; Bingjun Li. 2014. "Tackling Air Pollution in China—What do We Learn from the Great Smog of 1950s in LONDON." Sustainability 6, no. 8: 5322-5338.
Dongyong Zhang; Qijun Jiang; Xinming Ma; Bingjun Li. Drivers for food risk management and corporate social responsibility; a case of Chinese food companies. Journal of Cleaner Production 2014, 66, 520 -527.
AMA StyleDongyong Zhang, Qijun Jiang, Xinming Ma, Bingjun Li. Drivers for food risk management and corporate social responsibility; a case of Chinese food companies. Journal of Cleaner Production. 2014; 66 ():520-527.
Chicago/Turabian StyleDongyong Zhang; Qijun Jiang; Xinming Ma; Bingjun Li. 2014. "Drivers for food risk management and corporate social responsibility; a case of Chinese food companies." Journal of Cleaner Production 66, no. : 520-527.