On 13th June, the Sino-Swedish Yangtze River Delta Green Operation and Ecology Seminar with the theme of ‘ESG Pilot the Possible’ was successfully held in Taicang City. More than 80 enterprise representatives from the Swedish Pioneer the Possible platform and the ESG Alliance of Pudong New Area participated in the event, and some of the guests visited SKF China’s lubrication management R&D and production base. The subsequent one-day seminar was held at the Taicang Cultural Exchange Centre, hosted by the Swedish Trade and Investment Board and the Shanghai Pudong Foreign Invested Enterprises Association, and co-organised by SKF China, the Taicang Bureau of Commerce, and Taicang Industrial Investment Development Co.

                                             

This seminar is an in-depth dialogue to promote Sino-Swedish cooperation in green development on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the establishment of Sino-Swedish diplomatic relations, as well as the first exploration of innovative practices to promote the integration strategy of the Yangtze River Delta in ESG practice.

                                               

Sheng Haifeng, Vice Mayor of Taicang Municipal People’s Government, said in his speech that in the context of global climate change, the ESG concept has become an international consensus. This seminar is a major opportunity for Taicang to deepen its foreign cooperation and exchange, and Taicang will take this opportunity to further strengthen exchanges in various fields of economy and trade, low carbon and culture.

                                                  

Consul General of Sweden in Shanghai, Ms. Sze Mei, delivered a video message, introducing the latest progress of Sino-Swedish cooperation on green transformation, especially recognising the contribution of SKF as a leading global sustainability-driven science and technology company in carbon reduction in industrial applications, as well as the environmental and social responsibility it has demonstrated. She hoped that the government and enterprises would work together to carry out dialogue and strengthen cooperation to promote the construction of a sustainable global economic system.

                                          

Mr Wang Hui, President of SKF China and Northeast Asia, recorded a video message this year after attending the Green Supply Chain Forum organised by SKF China in cooperation with the Waigaoqiao Administration of Shanghai Free Trade Zone in 2024. He said that the ESG field has been changing rapidly over the past year, and China’s construction in the ESG field has shown a high degree of certainty compared with the uncertainty of the changing international situation. With more than 100 years of development in China, SKF has always practiced the concept of green sustainability and acted together with many customers and business partners, and will continue to promote the deepening of Sino-Swedish co-operation in ESG.

                                                      

Yang Jun, vice president of SKF China and Northeast Asia, said the strategic framework of smart and clean runs through the entire value chain of SKF and is closely integrated with business development. For example, aerospace bearings reduce fuel consumption through weight-saving design, digital monitoring systems for ships improve operational efficiency, low-friction engine seals help passenger cars reduce carbon emissions by 14,500 tonnes per year, and products and solutions promoting RecondOil regenerative oil technology ……ESG construction has become an inevitable choice for SKF to comply with the future development of the industry. The construction of ESG has become an inevitable choice for SKF to respond to the future development of the industry.

                                                         

Zhao Qingtao, Vice President of SKF China and Northeast Asia, released ‘SKF China ESG Strategy and Course of Action’, which demonstrated the persistence and efforts in the implementation of regionalised development strategy, dedicating to the construction of ESG with Chinese characteristics, and creating Chinese samples of multinational companies’ ESG.

Amanda Alkemark, Asia-Pacific Government Affairs Manager of the Swedish Trade and Investment Board, Dr Lv Jianzhong, an expert in the field of ESG, and Taicang Investment Promotion Bureau gave keynote speeches on ESG development perspectives from China and Switzerland and Taicang’s regional ESG advantages. Director Yao Juanjuan from the Swedish Institute of Environmental Sciences (IVL), and Sven Feng, Head of Sustainability and Energy, Asia Pacific, Volvo Cars, gave presentations from the perspective of the latest theories and practices.

                                                          

Jin Xin, Vice President of SKF China and Northeast Asia, participated in the roundtable exchange on supply chain and circular economy, sharing SKF’s experience and thoughts on playing the role of chain master in the supply chain, continuing to carry out carbon reduction and technological innovation work, and growing together with supply chain ecological partners.

Guests from leading organisations and enterprises such as Responsible World, Green Development Alliance of National Economic and Technological Development Zone, Inter IKEA, Taicang Power Supply Company, Interface, Upper Carbon Technology, Responsible Cloud Research Institute, GNN-International, CICC, Envac, Jiangsu Xiangneng Technology, etc., also focused on the topics of ‘Green Operation’ and ‘ESG Ecology’. ‘ESG Ecology’.

                                                 

Taicang Industry Investment Development Co., Ltd. and Pudong ESG Alliance held a signing of the strategic cooperation framework agreement during the seminar. Weiguo Lu, Vice President, Sustainability and Public Affairs, Asia Pacific, of SKF, made concluding remarks.

This event is the first time that SKF, after organising the Green Supply Chain Forum in 2024, has joined hands with a number of important domestic and international ESG associates to jointly organise a seminar on ESG industrial ecology. SKF will contribute to the development of industrial ecology and ESG ecological community while fulfilling its commitment to ESG actions, and expects more partners and related parties from upstream and downstream of the industrial chain to participate in the ecological development of ESG and create a better future of sustainable development.