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In the wake of the slowdown in China’s economic growth and the structural shift from manufacturing to services as the main growth driver, the Chinese government is increasingly realizing the necessity to develop its own sustainable development strategy. Therefore, after suspending the ‘green GDP’ initiative for more than ten years, the Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP) re-launched and upgraded it to ‘green GDP’ 2.0 in 2015. The newly released 13th Five-Year Plan and the Made in China 2025 strategy also indicate China’s intent to upgrade outdated production facilities and to boost production efficiency and quality. Taiwan has also announced big efforts to modernize its economy in following concepts of the German Energiewende.

The European Union considers its 2020 Strategy towards a smart, sustainable and inclusive growth as a way to recover from its persistent financial and economic crisis. The European Fund for Strategic Investment (EFSI) was established to leverage and stimulate private investment, to encourage research and innovation, and to promote the expansion of renewable energy, climate change mitigation, and the circular economy. Given Europe’s dependency on imports of hydrocarbons (90% of crude oil and 66% of natural gas are imported from abroad) renewable energies and the development of nuclear energy could help diversify supply but lack political support or seem prohibitively expensive.

However, a government-promoted top-down implementation is not the only solution to effective governance. A bottom-up approach to regulatory change and sustainable management has to involve stakeholders such as companies and consumers at regional and local level. Sustainable management requires consideration of both ecosystem and economic system. Smarter investment can gradually increase business profit and benefit investors, consumers, and the environment alike.

The workshop will address the following questions:

• What are the opportunities and challenges for sustainable development of businesses?
• What can China and Europe learn from each other’s experiences and good practices?
• Can a more sustainable consumption of agricultural and other products shorten the supply chain and how will it benefit consumers, producers, and the government?
• Are Chinese companies ready to accept sustainable development values, such as to promote corporate social responsibility (CSR)?
• How can bottom-up stakeholder involvement influence reform in both economic and political arenas?
• How can green financing be leveraged to answer the question of who is paying for such a fundamental shift towards sustainable management?

The workshop provides ample opportunities for postgraduate scholars and young professionals to present their recent findings to a larger audience of experienced scholar and practitioners. A public luncheon debate in cooperation with the European Chamber of Commerce Taipeh will open the debate towards the Taiwanese business community.