Ren Hongbin Attends United Nations Global Compact Leaders Summit (Online)

Ren Hongbin, Vice Chairman of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council (SASAC) and Board Member of the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC), attended and made a keynote speech at the UNGC Leaders Summit and the Ceremony for the 20th Anniversary of UNGC on June 16, 2020.

Ren Hongbin, Vice Chairman of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council (SASAC) and Board Member of the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) attends the UNGC Leaders Summit on June 16, 2020. [Photo/sasac.gov.cn]

Ren appreciated UNGC's unremitting efforts to mainstream corporate sustainability over the past two decades, saying that the world is facing unprecedented challenges, and strong cooperation underpinned on universal principles is essential and the only path forward to advancing the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the UN.

The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is an example of such that aims to foster regional and global cooperation in practice and it can accelerate the realization of the SDGs, Ren noted.

SASAC advocates central state-owned enterprises (SOEs) under its oversight to carry out responsible business practices aligned with UNGC's principles and companies should protect the environment, respond to climate change, obey laws and regulations, stick to integrity and responsibility, and adhere to the people-centered guideline for sustainable development in BRI construction and other international cooperation projects, he added.

The UNGC also launched the Action Platform on Sustainable Infrastructure for the Belt and Road Initiative to Accelerate the SDGs at the event.

Ren said he hopes the platform will serve as a key international mechanism to facilitate the business community's contribution to boost sustainable infrastructure and investment in the BRI countries to accelerate the SDGs.

(Executive editor: Wang Ruoting)