One of China's foremost entrepreneurs speaks at Harvard Business School, and gives a bold new direction to China's culture of corporate philanthropy
BOSTON, March 11 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- Mr. Niu Gensheng, founder of China's biggest milk manufacturer and regarded as one of China's foremost entrepreneurs, today addressed a full audience at the Harvard Business School's Harvard Asia Business Conference 2008, and candidly discussed his thoughts on the state of Chinese corporate philanthropy: what is missing, what needs to be done, the challenges facing philanthropy in China, and how China can become a leader in corporate giving.
"Chinese industry must embrace our national cultural heritage, Confucianism, which extols the virtue of giving," said Mr. Niu. "We must
re-embrace these important values." In his presentation, Mr. Niu outlined how the business and entrepreneurs could work together in China to make the nation a leader in the world in terms of per-capita corporate philanthropy.
Already one of China's most successful businessmen, Mr. Niu's approach and methodology are based on his own experience of nine years at the helm of the Mengniu Dairy Group.
Speaking about the responsibilities of corporate citizenship, Mr. Niu outlined some of the company's industry-leading innovations, including the world's largest methane power generator, and the first water conservation and rain water recycling program to be implemented by a company in China. These moves have not only dramatically reduced the company's environmental footprint but also significantly lowered overheads and provided an important competitive advantage.
Mr. Niu also discussed how his company contributes to the communities in which it works, most notably through a recently instituted scheme to provide free milk to every teacher and schoolchild at each of 1,000 schools across rural China. The donation is the first program of its kind in China's history. Average milk consumption in China is currently only 1/4 of the global average, and in rural areas of China, milk consumption is only 10% of the average Chinese consumption.
Furthermore, Mr. Niu advocated a sustainable giving approach to corporate philanthropy. "What is important is that you develop a way to structure a sustainable, ongoing level of giving. That way you can build momentum and make a real difference. Simply writing a check does not necessarily equate to shouldering your social responsibility."
In 2005, Mr. Niu himself broke new ground in corporate philanthropy in China by gifting all his Mengniu Group shares to the Laoniu Foundation, the first time that a Chinese entrepreneur has donated all of his shares to charity. The Foundation, a well planned, robustly managed trust fund that is audited independently, took this initial investment (worth 4 billion HKD at year-end 2007) and has since used the dividends to address its three areas of concern -- education, the medical industry, and the agricultural industry.
In his conclusion, Mr. Niu challenged his fellow Chinese companies, and called on them to raise the overall standard of corporate giving in China. "We are living in times of great prosperity and growth. It is time for our Chinese companies to rise to the challenge and to find a Chinese way to give that is sustainable and which makes a real difference."
Mr. Niu began his career in the milk industry in 1978, starting out as an entry-level bottle washer. Over the following ten years, he built himself up to Vice President of Production Operations, and then in 1999 took the leap of starting his own company, Mengniu Group.
In just nine years, the company has become one of the leading players in the dairy industry in Asia, and is set to be one of the world's top 20 dairy manufacturers by 2011.
Mr. Niu has been commended as one of "China's Top 10 Philanthropists" by China's Ministry of Civil Affairs. In addition, he was named among one of the "Ten most important people who have changed China's way of life". Phoenix Weekly, a top-tier Chinese publication, named Mr. Niu, alongside Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, and Li Jiacheng, "One of the top four philanthropists in the world." CCTV deemed him the "2003 Businessman of the Year".
Added Mr. Niu, "I truly believe China can take to the world stage in terms of philanthropy. We can take our model, and really make a difference in many places around the globe."
