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Annan urges Chinese companies to embrace Global Compact

Annan urges Chinese companies to embrace Global Compact

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United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan has urged Chinese companies to embrace the Global Compact, his initiative to promote better business practices in human rights, labour, the environment and the fight against corruption.

In a message Sunday to the two-day summit of the World Industrial and Commercial Organization in Beijing, the Secretary-General stressed that one of his priorities has been to engage the power of the private sector more deeply in the work of the United Nations to promote development and to ensure that globalization can benefit all the world's people.

"By working together, [Compact] participants are seeking to create new opportunities for the poor to improve their standards of living," he said in the message delivered by Kim Hak-su, Executive-Secretary of the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP).

Launched in 1999, the Global Compact has grown to encompass more than 1,500 businesses from 70 countries, and includes the major international labour federations, representing more than 150 million workers worldwide.

"I very much hope that more Chinese business leaders will embrace the Compact and align their practices with universal principles. By building bridges with the world, you can do your part to find solutions to the pressing challenges of our times," he said.

Currently, some half-dozen Chinese companies participate in the Global Compact, including the China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation.