Ms. Mia Zheng delivering her keynote speech at the forum
In her keynote, Ms. Zheng traced the development of ESG in China from the perspectives of both macro trends and on-the-ground practice. She noted that ESG has moved beyond being an investment tool to become a key lever for high-quality economic and social development, and that diversity and inclusion under the "S" (social) dimension is finding resonance with values specific to China through close integration with national strategies such as "ethnic unity" and "rural revitalisation". She stressed that the key to advancing diversity and inclusion is to avoid transplanting global discourse wholesale, and instead to combine internationally accepted principles with China's own cultural context, bridging cultural gaps and winning broad recognition at home and abroad. To illustrate the point, she quoted the sociologist Fei Xiaotong's well-known words, "Each appreciates its own beauty and the beauty of others; when beauty is shared, the world is in harmony", and the classic song lyric "Fifty-six ethnic groups, fifty-six flowers", which express Chinese society's affection for its ethnic diversity.
Ms. Mia Zheng in the roundtable "Localising DEI: Innovative Practices and Challenges"
In the roundtable "Localising DEI: Innovative Practices and Challenges", Ms. Zheng and the other panellists reached an important shared view: DEI must be truly embedded in corporate strategy and day-to-day operations, which requires both "top-down" strategic leadership and "bottom-up" employee participation and co-creation. The panellists called on companies to step up exchange and cooperation, sharing practical experience and building an industry ecosystem together to create a more inclusive and sustainable environment for foreign-invested companies in China.
The forum offered multinational companies useful references for localising DEI. Going forward, WeCarbon will keep working with industry partners to find new ways of bringing international standards together with the Chinese context, contributing to a more inclusive and sustainable future.