The China International Contractors Association released its Guide on Social Responsibility in September. The text, which is bilingual and clearly adapted to the lingo of international CSR, mostly sticks to generalities and exhorts companies to obey laws — for example, by paying taxes (article 4.7.3).
Nonetheless, some parts go beyond the language we have been used to. For example, article 4.2.1 recommends treating job applicants of “different ethnicites, genders, races, nationalities, age, religions, disabilities, marital status and sexual orientation equally.” Such language is unusual in China, and although hiring disabled candidates in the construction industry may not be very realistic, it is nonetheless a nice idea. The same article also advises against the use of child labour, but since this is illegal in China, it is already covered by the Chinese government’s requirement that Chinese companies abroad comply with Chinese as well as local laws. Article 4.4.3 recommends localised procurement, and article 4.4.2 advises incorporating CSR standards into subcontracting arrangements.
According to International Rivers’ (IR) useful guide to the state of China’s international dam building industry, The New Great Walls, an updated version of which has just been released, Sinohydro’s 2011 policy, developed in consultation with IR, goes far beyond these guidelines: it adopts the World Bank’s principles on infrastructural projects, mandates “community” consultation and access to social and environmental impact assessments, commits to a dialogue with NGOs, and requires at least equal income and livelihood levels for those displaced by projects. It also required informed consent by “Indigenous Peoples” where applicable, an interesting fact as China is not a signatory to the UN convention on indigenous peoples and the term is not used in China.
According to The New Great Walls, there were “at least 308 dam projects … in 70 different countries” being built with the help of Chinese contractors or financiers as of August 2012.
Exporting China's Development to the World 