Welcome to ChinaWatch, WMB’s digest of news from the country with the world’s second largest economy. Click the links for more info. No Rotten Apple?
Apple restated its pledge to provide safe working conditions for workers assembling of its products after environmental groups in China released a report criticizing the tech company for failing to be transparent about its suppliers.
“Apple is committed to ensuring the highest standards of social responsibility throughout our supply base,’’ says Apple spokeswoman Carolyn Wu in a statement.
The company requires all suppliers to sign Apple's code of conduct before the contracts are made. Compliance is then monitored through factory audits and measures to correct violations.
However, Apple would not directly comment on the report, which had the backing of 36 environmental groups from China.
Titled “The Other Side of Apple,” the report faulted the tech giant for failing to respond to inquiries related to the working and environmental conditions at its suppliers, while also refusing to disclose who the company's suppliers are.
The 26-page document pointed to suppliers reportedly connected to Apple that had violated environmental regulations or poisoned workers because of working conditions.
“Apple is so famous for their products. They are fashionable and user-friendly. But the company also should take care of the ones are who making these products,’’ says Wang Jing Jing, vice director of the Institute of Environmental and Public Affairs, one the groups behind the report.
Apple says it is actively working to improve working conditions at its suppliers' facilities, and has even made progress reports available online.
Closer Ties Urged
Heavy equipment maker Caterpillar, whose stock is a key piece in many American retirement funds, is urging a stronger trade relationship between the United States and China on the heels of the Chinese president's visit to the States.
The Peoria, Ill., company, the world's largest maker of construction and mining equipment, says it’s inked a memorandum of understanding as part of the U.S.-China Trade and Economic Forum that it hopes will support greater American exports from Caterpillar in the future.
China is already one of the largest export markets for Caterpillar products, with more than $2 billion in products delivered there in the last five years. Caterpillar has more than 7,700 employees across China.
“We realize there are important and substantive issues that exist between the United States and China, from currency valuations to the protection of intellectual property, and that these need to be resolved with a sense of urgency,’’ says Rich Lavin, Caterpillar group president with responsibility for growth markets, including China.
“But we also know the way we resolve disagreements is important,’’ Lavin says. “Caterpillar will continue to urge policymakers in both the United States and China to resolve differences in an atmosphere of mutual respect — not by threatening a trade war. We continue to believe that quiet diplomacy and multilateral forums offer a preferred path for resolving differences.’’
Caterpillar's statement comes after Chinese President Hu Jintao's high-profile state visit to the United States. The visit resulted in job-creating business deals worth billions of dollars to U.S. companies.
The business deals were among the highlights of a trip seen as key to building trust between the world's top two powers. The two sides played down differences and stressed areas of cooperation, though Hu faced a critical audience when he met with American lawmakers.
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