If major companies sourcing in developing countries care only about price and quality, local suppliers will be lured to cut corners on environmental standards to win contracts. – Ma Jun
iPhone4 is sold in the U.S., Europe and elsewhere, but it was assembled in China. As the world’s center for the processing of IT products, China’s environment is paying the price. – Ma Jun
Multinationals are more sensitive to public pressure because they have bigger brand names, and they have made commitments to be environmentally sensitive. Chinese firms are not used to this kind of pressure yet. – Ma Jun
The situation is quite serious – groundwater is important source for water use, including drinking water, and if it gets contaminated, it’s very costly and difficult to clean. – Ma Jun
When I look at China’s environmental problems, the real barrier is not lack of technology or money. It’s lack of motivation. – Ma Jun
Regulatory failings mean that the cost of breaking the law is far below that of obeying it – businesses are happier to pay fines than to control pollution. – Ma Jun
One thing most people would agree is that climate change would add further uncertainties to our already quite tight water supply situation in China. – Ma Jun
If you publish something in traditional media, it’s one-way. With social media, we get all this info coming back from those who read our posts. – Ma Jun
I think there are a few brands like Nike and Patagonia which are quite progressively minded. – Ma Jun
Greening the globalised manufacturing and sourcing will be the single biggest help multinationals could make to the tough pollution control in China and other developing countries. – Ma Jun
There is a growing recognition of the importance of really bringing pollution under control. – Ma Jun
Apple has made this commitment that it’s a green company. So how do you fulfill your commitment if you don’t consider you have responsibility in your suppliers’ pollution? – Ma Jun
I think its time to change and balance the environment and growth. If we don’t do that, we’re going to suffer a hard landing one day very soon. – Ma Jun
Globalised manufacturing and procurement mean that a lot of high-polluting, heavy duty jobs are transferred to China. We will ask major companies, such as Wal-Mart, Microsoft and IBM to put pressure on their Chinese suppliers. – Ma Jun
China should cut heavy industries’ share in gross domestic output by 9 percentage points between 2013 and 2030 to meet its pollution cuts target. – Ma Jun
On April 16, 2010, 34 Chinese environmental organizations, including Friends of Nature, the Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs, and Green Beagle, questioned heavy metal pollution in a letter sent to CEO Steve Jobs. – Ma Jun
Beijing was such a different city. There were so few cars, I could walk in the middle of the road. In the summer, the streetlamps attracted swirling bugs. I loved those bugs: crickets, praying mantis, all kinds of beetles. I also have a vivid memory of dazzling sunlight coming out of the sky. – Ma Jun
I hope to see an integrated solution created to deal with both the local pollution problem and the global climate change problem. – Ma Jun
Of course, as consumers, we want cheap and good products; however, if these production processes are exceeding wastewater discharge standards and even causing heavy metal pollution, they will cause long-lasting damage to the ecological environment and public health. – Ma Jun