Brands who come to China, often they just care about price – so they actually drive the suppliers to cut corners on environmental standards to win a contract. – Ma Jun
I know the government needs to ensure economic growth… we just hope it takes care of the environment, too. – Ma Jun
Globalisation has powered economic growth in developing countries such as China. Global logistics, low domestic production costs, and strong consumer demand have let the country develop strong export-based manufacturing, making the country the workshop of the world. – Ma Jun
I hope they can see that as a consumer, if they express themselves, they may make an impact and leverage their impact on the brands, and the brands can leverage their buying power on tens of thousands of polluters – suppliers – in China. – Ma Jun
China’s environmental conundrums will not be solved by changes within government alone. New mechanisms are needed to allow the communities which may be affected by a given plan, and citizens concerned about the environment, to join in. – Ma Jun
They pollute. It’s not because morally they have a problem, but more because the mechanism now is rewarding those who cut corners to save cost. – Ma Jun
Some of the areas in China have been under very grave water scarcity: for example, the north China plain; they are facing a very serious water shortage. Per capita levels have dropped to very serious levels, including in Beijing. – Ma Jun
It has been shown that public participation can limit powerful interest groups, while competing interests can help find a reasonable balance between development and environmental protection. – Ma Jun
What we aim to do, through public pressure, is help the environment protection bureau to enforce the law. – Ma Jun
We firmly believe the environmental issues cannot be addressed without extensive public participation, but people need to be informed before they can get involved. – Ma Jun
Environmental problems cannot be resolved here the way they are resolved in other countries. I heard that 80 per cent of the environmental problems in the U.S. are solved in court. That can’t happen here. – Ma Jun
We can’t go to courts in China, so we have to find alternate ways, like working with brands to try and create a level playing field by identifying the most obvious polluters. – Ma Jun
Pollution is a serious one. Water pollution, air pollution, and then solid hazardous waste pollution. And then beyond that, we also have the resources issue. Not just water resources but other natural resources, the mining resources being consumed, and the destruction of our ecosystem. – Ma Jun
We haven’t seen the turning point yet, but we’re sticking to our bottom line, for the environment and the health of the country. – Ma Jun
Ever since we published the first Apple report, we’ve had some other brands turning more proactive. – Ma Jun
In America, you complain about job losses because of China, but here, we carry all of the environmental costs. – Ma Jun
I tell them the rules are made by the government. Every firm should comply. It doesn’t mean they can’t compete. – Ma Jun
While cheap products are exported to western countries, the waste is dumped mostly in China’s back yard, contaminating its air, water, soil and seas. – Ma Jun
In some cases, it’s not just about cleaning up the factories. It’s about cleaning up the nearby rivers and lakes that have been tainted with heavy metals. – Ma Jun
China leads the world in energy consumption, carbon emissions, and the release of major air and water pollutants, and the environmental impact is felt both regionally and globally. – Ma Jun
Even the government understands that the environmental challenge is so big that no single agency can handle it. It needs collaboration among all the stakeholders – companies, governments, NGOs and the public. Public accountability will be the ultimate driving force. – Ma Jun
Everyone else has some interest in economic growth and development, which often happens at the expense of the environment and community. We need the other side to join this to check and balance. – Ma Jun
With its imagination and large sales, Apple has become the world’s most valuable IT company. However people are starting to have doubts regarding Apple’s silence on heavy metal pollution problems. – Ma Jun
China has leapfrogged into this information age, and Web users have grown very significantly, which knocked down the cost of doing the environmental transparency. – Ma Jun
We copied laws and regulations from western countries, but enforcement remains weak, and environmental litigation is still quite near impossible. – Ma Jun
People realised this is real pollution; it is not fog. Now everyone has to face the data and come out of their comfort zone. – Ma Jun
Like in those cancer villages, a group of old ladies kneeling down in front of me, you know, holding a bottle of polluted water and hoping that they would get help, this is the voice that got drowned in this complex, globalized supply chain system. – Ma Jun
The motivation should come from regulatory enforcement, but enforcement is weak, and environmental litigation is near to impossible. So there’s an urgent need for extensive public participation to generate another kind of motivation. – Ma Jun