SUPPORT THE CHINA EARTHQUAKE RECOVERY FUND
The Asia Foundation's affiliate Give2Asia has established the China Earthquake Recovery Fund to support earthquake relief and recovery efforts. Learn more and donate now to the fund.
Empowering Green Entrepreneurs
While China's economic dynamism has propelled the country's development, it has also created profound threats to the global environment and human health. Recognizing the challenges posed by rapid industrialization, Chinese leaders and community groups are pursuing sustainable economic development strategies. To maximize impact, we are working on a number of fronts, including: empowering entrepreneurs to create green businesses; training factory managers in the textile and dyeing sector in the Pearl River Delta on cleaner and more energy efficient production alternatives; and contributing to an improved policy framework for environmentally friendly companies. This past year, we worked closely with the Beijing-based Global Environmental Institute to find and educate skilled, ambitious entrepreneurs who want to integrate environmental concerns into their businesses. An emphasis addressed business solutions to environmental problems, such as market opportunities for green technologies and new green business models. Together, we trained 25 entrepreneurs, from a former marketer launching a "green" media venture, to a young executive who secured a low-interest loan to market a wind and solar product that replaces on-ship batteries, typically tossed in the ocean. After years working for multinational companies in product design and marketing, Emma Chen had an idea to start a company focusing on visual communications and the environment. As a result of the training, she honed her business plan into an online clearinghouse that publishes abstracts from professional literature on green solutions for business. Her new website now provides a channel of information that she hopes will help create "a greener world." In 2010, we will train a new class of young entrepreneurs and promote outreach efforts in cities beyond Beijing, aiming to create a China Environmental Entrepreneurs Network.