New | Huawei steps up standard to be the Chinese electronics industry’s poster boy for sustainability
The world’s biggest telecoms equipment supplier spearheads standard for a green supply chain ecosystem on the mainland
Huawei Technologies, the world’s largest supplier of telecommunications equipment, wants to be the face of Corporate China’s sustainability efforts, as the privately held company addresses the growing challenges in its industry.
“We have a chance to do better than listed companies,” Kevin Tao Jingwen, the chairman of Huawei’s corporate sustainability development committee, told the South China Morning Post.
“We have focused our sustainability investments alongside our business growth. We can also make decisions faster to invest in more areas than public companies.”
Huawei, with 170,000 employees around the world, spent US$100 million last year on health and safety initiatives for staff, Tao said, declining to disclose how much the Shenzhen-based company allocates each year for corporate sustainability projects.
According to consulting firm McKinsey & Co., many companies are integrating sustainability principles into their businesses to pursue goals that go far beyond managing their reputation. Examples include saving energy, reducing waste and maximising employee performance.
Huawei has operations in more than 170 countries, which has led it to embed sustainability requirements into its purchase strategies and business processes amid the rapid technological advances in its industry.