On the afternoon of October 16, the 15th lecture of Nitto Themed Series by Center for Japanese Studies, Shanghai Jiao Tong University(“the Center”) was successfully held at the Xuhui Campus of Shanghai Jiao Tong University. This lecture was hosted by the Center, co-organized by KoGuan School of Law and School of Foreign Languages, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, and supported by World Platinum Investment Council and Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance (China) Co. Ltd. Zhu Qinghua, Associate Dean and Chair Professor of Antai College of Economics & Management, Shanghai Jiao Tong University and Chen Wei, President of Anglo American China, delivered keynote speeches. Shiomi Futoshi, Chairman of Nitto Denko (China) Investment Co., Ltd., released the ESG report of the company. Lv Jianzhong, Director of Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) and Deputy Director of the Sustainable Development Management Committee of China Management Sciences Society, along with Chen Biao, General Manager of Metalor Precious Metals (Suzhou) Co., Ltd, Zhang Rutie, General Manager of Minmetals Financial Services (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd, Misumi Sadahito, General Manager of Nitto Denko (Shanghai Songjiang) Co., Ltd, and Ikeda Hideo, General Manager of Shanghai Nitto Optical Co., Ltd. contributed to the lecture via a panel discussion. Ding Jian, Secretary of the Party Committee of School of Foreign Languages, Shanghai Jiao Tong University and Deputy Director of the Center, and Cai Yuping, Deputy Director of the Center, moderated the lecture. Ji Weidong, University Professor of Humanity and Social Sciences and Director of the Center, attended the lecture and delivered a speech. More than 300 Chinese and Japanese expert scholars, entrepreneurs and practitioners, as well as faculties and students of Shanghai Jiao Tong University attended the lecture.
Ding Jian presided over the opening ceremony of this lecture. He mentioned that, as an important academic platform to promote the cooperation and exchanges between China and Japan, Nitto Themed Lectures had invited many well-known Chinese and Japanese experts and scholars in the fields of politics, academia and industry to spark new ideas and prompted discussions on the cutting-edge issues of China and Japan for more than five years, which actively promoted friendly exchanges and development between China and Japan at the level of academic and industrial exchanges. He expressed his warm welcome and heartfelt thanks to the guest participants.
Ji Weidong delivered a speech at the opening of the lecture. First of all, he welcomed the arrival of Mr. Shiomi Tai and expressed his gratitude to all the guests for their attendance and participation. He said that the theme of this seminar, “ESG”, is a powerful driving force to lead the transformation and upgrading of enterprises and to realize green development. And he believed that the exchanges and cooperation between the governments, enterprises, and academia of the two countries will inject new vitality into promoting the in-depth development of the concept of ESG in the global arena. At the same time, he mentioned that the Nitto Lecture has been held for more than five consecutive years, with a total of fourteen sessions, providing valuable opportunities for academic exchanges and industrial thinking collision between China and Japan. And once again he expressed his gratitude to Nitto Denko (China) Investment Co., Ltd. for its support.
The lecture invited a number of high-profile experts and entrepreneurs in the field of ESG research and practice as speakers. Zhu Qinghua, Associate Dean and Chair Professor of Antai School of Economics & Management, Shanghai Jiao Tong University and Chen Wei, President of Anglo American China, delivered keynote speeches on the current state and future trends of ESG in supply chain, mining and other fields.
Zhu Qinghua delivered a speech on the topic of “ESG in Supply Chain: Research and Thoughts from China's Perspective”. She pointed out that ESG has received great attention from all over the world. The Chinese government has issued relevant policies and regulations; on April 12, 2024, Shanghai Stock Exchange, Shenzhen Stock Exchange and Beijing Stock Exchange issued the “Guidelines on Reporting Sustainable Developments of Listed Companies”, which clarifies the topics of environmental, social and corporate governance disclosure. Germany's Supply Chain Due Diligence Act, enacted in 2021 and implemented in 2023, and the European Union's Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive, adopted in 2022 and put into practice in 2024, both extended existing ESG requirements for companies to their supply chain. Under this context, Prof. Zhu presented her three related studies: applicable ESG regulation on the supply chains of multinational companies in China and their impact on suppliers and the government; the effective response of Chinese small-and-medium-sized suppliers to customer demands; and the decision-making strategies of Chinese companies facing both Chinese and other foreign markets. Finally, she further expanded on the idea of a circular supply chain model that takes into account of both resource conservation and low-carbon development.
Chen Wei delivered a keynote speech on theme of “Shaping the Future - The Role of Mining in a Rapidly Changing World: Anglo American’s ESG”. He mentioned that the mining industry has played an important role in helping make the world carbon neutral, which is not only reflected in reducing the mining industry's own emissions footprint, but also in providing the metals and minerals of the future that will be vital for low-carbon energy, transportation systems and many other areas. Mining played an underlying driving role in the development of civilization, everyday life and technology. Through smart innovation that combines technology, digitization and holistic sustainable development, the mining industry is committed to building a cleaner, greener and more sustainable future. Reducing Carbon emissions, improving quality of life and ensuring food security are fundamental needs and important issues for social development in today's world. Anglo American, as a globally diversified mining company, is working globally with industry partners to meet the opportunities and challenges of this new era.
Mr. Shiomi released the ESG report of Nitto Denko (China) Investment Co., Ltd. titled “Nitto's Characteristic ESG Management”. The report mentioned that Nitto was founded in 1918 and has a history of 106 years. In this ever-changing world, Nitto has always insisted on continuous innovation and growth, and committed to becoming an indispensable presence in society and even in our lives. Nitto's most distinctive features are the “Niche Top Strategy” and the “Three New Activities”. These two are Nitto's unique strategies and important drivers for sustainable corporate development. In terms of ESG, corporate governance is the foundation of Nitto's business and its corporate culture. In its ESG strategy, Nitto has always centered its management strategy on balancing the need to address social issues with the need to create economic value, with the goal of becoming an ESG TOP company. Nitto regarded the Earth’s environment, humanity, and society all as its customers, constantly challenging for a sustainable future and the people’s wellbeing.
After the keynote speech, Mr. Shiomi, on behalf of Nitto Denko (China) Investment Corporation, presented certificates of appreciation to the keynote speakers for their excellent speeches and strong support for this lecture.
The roundtable discussion, moderated by Lv Jianzhong, was themed “Green, Low Carbon and ESG Practices in Enterprises - Challenges and Opportunities,” where the panelists put forward their views on their respective industrial fields.
Chen Biao focused on how enterprises should integrate ESG strategies and implementation methods with their products and services according to the operating characteristics of their specific industries. He summarized that the two key points of ESG are traceability of sources and recyclability of products, where traceability is necessary for the integrity of the industry, and recyclability embodies the quality of the industry's business as well as its long-term competitiveness. In addition, he proposed that sustainable development is a collective term covering economic, social and environmental benefits, and also has positive emotional values.
Zhang Rutie mentioned that the manufacturing industry relied on ore mining, which covered a large number of innovative emission reduction activities, in which financial services played a carbon reduction and empowerment role worthy of attention. Minmetals Group's main business is mining, where ESG is very important in the development of green mining intelligence. As a state-owned enterprise, Minmetals Group is committed to bearing its corporate responsibility of sustainability. He pointed out that ESG is very close to traditional concepts, which can be summarized as “following the human nature, respecting the nature’s order, making ambitious wishes, yet taking practical steps”, incoporating the idea of “Taoism and nature” into corporate development.
Misumi Sadahito shared Nitto Denko (Shanghai Songjiang) Co., Ltd.'s ESG policies and objectives, which were to develop ESG strategies based on the three goals---carbon reduction, recycling of waste plastics, and obtaining green factory certification, in order to accelerate the expansion of Nitto's distinctive business of “environment-friendly and human-contributing products”. Using adhesive tapes as an example, he explained the feasibility of creating economic value while addressing social issues, and said that although it was difficult to balance the two goals, the company had always endeavored to be effective in both ESG environment and profitability .
Ikeda Hideo shared the example of Shanghai Nitto Optical Co., Ltd.’s proactive plastic reduction activities and the company's concrete initiatives to implement ESG. He mentioned that Shanghai Nitto Optical was committed to becoming an indispensable presence for the earth, people and society under the Nitto Group's ESG management philosophy. In addition, he also introduced Shanghai Nitto Optical's ESG related measures in the semiconductor and display-screen industries, and pointed out that Nitto prioritized environmentally friendly suppliers, which would become a more obvious trend in the future. The concept of green, transparent and high-quality production and operation needed to be established in the full value chain management of the supply chain.
In the Q & A session, the participants asked questions from the perspectives of green factory certification and government regulatory policies, as well as how small/medium-sized enterprises could participate in ESG. The moderator and the panelists answered the questions one by one, and carried out in-depth exchanges and discussions. The atmosphere at the scene was active and warm.
Cai Yuping presided over the closing speech session, pointing out that this lecture had enhanced our understanding of ESG concepts through the collision of ideas and the integration of wisdom, promoted exchanges between China and Japan in the field of ESG and enriched the perspectives of exploring ESG practices. The lecture has also enabled us to grasp the broad prospects and profound impacts of ESG .
Ji Weidong delivered the closing speech. He mentioned that in this lecture, Chinese and Japanese scholars and entrepreneurs discussed deeply, harmoniously and openly; the keynote speeches were full of golden phrases; the atmosphere of the roundtable discussion was warm; and the ESG report of Mr. Shiomi, presented us novel expressions and concepts, as well as valuable practical experiences. At the same time, he expressed his heartfelt thanks to Nitto Denko for its long-term support, the wonderful sharing of the panelists, the active participation of the audience, and the presence of all the participants.
On behalf of the Center, Ji Weidong presented certificates of appreciation to the roundtable panelists for their wonderful sharing and strong support to the Center.
In November 2018, the Center collaborated with Nitto Denko (China) Investment Co., Ltd. to organize the titled lecture series “Center for Japanese Studies, Shanghai Jiao Tong University-Nitto Lecture”. Fourteen sessions had been held in more than five years so far. On the occasion of the fifth anniversary of establishment of the lecture, Nitto Denko (China) Investment Co., Ltd. and the Center exchanged souvenirs and took a group photo, and the lecture came to an end in a pleasant atmosphere.
