On Tuesday 16 December, the China-UK Social Innovation and Social Enterprise Seminar, joint hosted by the British Council and the China Centre for Comparative Politics and Economics (CCCPE), took place in the Beijing Broadcasting Tower Hotel.
Part of the British Council’s Social Innovation Week, the seminar was attended by representatives from select Chinese social enterprises, social investors, researchers from several Beijing universities and research institutes, as well as representatives from the British Council, the CCCPE, and local Chinese government. Mr. Dan Gregory, Head of Policy at Social Enterprise UK (SEUK), was invited to give the keynote speech alongside Ms. Zhou Hongyun, Deputy Director of CCCPE, as well as to provide his expertise and insight throughout the event.
During the morning session, following opening remarks by Mr. Jack Yu, Director Society at British Council China, and Ms. Zhou of the CCCPE, Mr. Gregory gave his keynote speech on the current situation and innovation of the UK’s social enterprise sector and social investment market. Ms. Zhou then gave her speech on the current situation and problems of social innovation in China.
During the second half of the morning session four social enterprise case studies, two from the UK and two from China, were introduced and analysed, with comments on each case provided by a representative from one of the invited universities or institutes.
Mr. Gregory introduced the first case from the UK, Westmill Solar Cooperative. Westmill Solar is a community-owned solar farm in the south of England, producing clean, renewable energy for 1,400 homes in the local area.
The second case, Hartion Eco-Afforestation, was discussed by Mr. Robin Zhang, Founder of Venture Avenue. Hartion Eco-Afforestation is an afforestation project based in Inner Mongolia, China that aims to rehabilitate areas affected by desertification due to coal mining.
Mr. Gregory then introduced another case from the UK, Bristol Together CIC. Bristol Together is a Community Interest Company which looks to buy, refurbish and sell empty houses in the Bristol area, with the aim of providing training and full-time employment to ex-convicts.
The final case of the morning session was discussed by Mr. Ji Dong, CEO of Protection & Ease, a Beijing based company that is developing software to enable blind people to use smartphones.
Following a break for lunch, the seminar recommenced with a session in which representatives from the Chinese social investor delegation, which recently returned from a recent UK study tour, shared their findings and impressions from the trip.
The speakers were Mr. Zhang Gaorong, Assistant Dean of the China Philanthropy Research Institute at Beijing Normal University, Ms. Yan Ying, Senior Advisor to the Institute for Environment and Development, and Mr. Robin Zhang of Venture Avenue. Mr. Dan Gregory also took part in the session, providing comments and offering his expert opinion. The session was chaired by Ms. Mavis Meng, Assistant Director of the Society and Development Department at the British Council.
During this session, the participants discussed their experiences of visiting social investment institutions such as Big Society Capital and Bethnal Green Ventures, as well as attending the UK-Asia Government Dialogue on Social Investment at the House of Commons. They also gave their impressions on their meetings with British social enterprises such as Divine Chocolate and Greenwich Leisure Limited.
The final session of the day saw three more case studies take place, this time with the focus on social innovation in China. Three speakers took the stage to outline the day-to-day work of their respective enterprises and how they are benefiting their local community.
Firstly, Mr. Zhang Haoyu discussed his work as part of China Dolls, an organisation which provides help for disabled people and children in China, including rehabilitation, public involvement, training, and scholarships.
Secondly, Ms. Song Yuhan gave a presentation on Cinnovate Center, an NGO originally launched by Intel China that supports China’s social innovation movement in a number of ways, including “supporting change-makers, enabling cross-sector collaboration, catalysing effective strategies and solutions to tackle social challenges, and creating a vibrant social innovation ecosystem.”
Finally, Ms. Ma Xiaoduo explained the work of her organisation, United Heart Home of Hope, which is mainly aimed at female migrant workers and their children. The organisation runs a second-hand clothes supermarket, day care centre, afternoon classes for school children, family education courses, and community culture activities, all for the migrant worker community in Beijing.
The seminar ended with closing remarks from Dr. Cai Fengwei of the CCCPE, who said he was “confident that continued cooperation between China and the UK will help to improve the state of social innovation in China.”