The inaugural China Social Enterprise and Social Investment Forum kicked off to a roaring start in Shenzhen on 18th June for a day and a half of discussions with international and Asian speakers sharing their best practices with the Chinese audience. The forum is organized by the Alliance of the same name, founded by 16 foundations. Many of the founding organisations are AVPN members, including Narada Foundation, Leping Social Entrepreneur Foundation, Beijing United Charity Foundation, Social Enterprise Research Center and Yifang Foundation.
One of the keynote speeches was delivered by Cliff Prior of UnLtd UK, who explained to the audience the importance of capacity building for social enterprises, and the human capital. On the second day, AVPN co-organised a panel on “Social Enterprise Policies in Asia”, with Yuan En Space, a co-working space based in Beijing. We were joined by our members from Peking University, Professor Yuan Ruijun, our partner from Hong Kong Efficiency Unit, Ms. Patricia Lau.
There was strong support from the city of Shenzhen in fostering the eco-system for social enterprises and social investing. Deputy of the Ministry of Civil Affairs bureau, Mdm Hou Yisha, gave a roaring speech on the commitment of the government sector in Shenzhen to support the growth of social enterprises through clearer regulations and definitions. Mdm Hou had also participated in the AVPN study trip to Europe last year with other Asian government officials, where she was exposed to many successful European multi-sector collaboration models.
For all who are interested to understand how the social investing landscape is evolving in China, the CSESIF will prove to be an important event in the Chinese calendar.
To find out more about the forum and the alliance, please visit: http://csesif.org/
