From June 28th to 30th, the second ESG Global Leaders Summit was held online with the theme of "Promoting Global ESG Development and Building a Sustainable Future." ESG refers to environmental, social, and corporate governance. Dozens of heavyweight guests from leading organizations, companies, and academic institutions in the global ESG industry participated in this summit, focusing on global ESG investment theories and practices in order to promote the achievement of global sustainable development goals. On the 29th, Li Jianquan, the Chairman of Winner Medical, made an appearance and delivered a keynote speech at the summit. Li Jianquan believes that during Winner Medical's more than 30-year history, the seeds of ESG were planted from the beginning, and the company has been practicing in this field for many years, placing importance on environmental protection and social responsibility. In the future, it will continue to strive to promote the sustainable development of the company.
Seeds of ESG have long been planted
At the second ESG Global Leaders Summit, Li Jianquan, Chairman of Winner Medical, attended and delivered a speech. Li Jianquan stated that when Winner Medical was established in the early 1990s, although the concept of ESG was not known at that time, the company was created with the goal of sustainable development and value creation from the beginning. Starting from shedding the label of "rubbish" in the Chinese medical dressings industry, Winner Medical gradually led the industry towards high-quality development with a focus on innovation, completely reversing the image of Chinese medical dressings brands internationally.
Li Jianquan also stated that Winner Medical has faced many challenges during its development and has realized the importance of sustainable development and social responsibility. Therefore, the company has been early to invest in the health industry and continuously innovate in its own field. While rapidly growing as a company, Winner Medical has not forgotten to respect nature and protect the environment.
"Perhaps this is the ESG gene seed that Winner Medical planted at its birth," said Li Jianquan.
Li believes that it is because of the existence of this seed that Winner Medical, based on its own values and genes, has early established the core business principles of "quality is prioritized over profits, brand is prioritized over speed, and social value is prioritized over corporate value". It advocates "altruism" and seeks the harmonious coexistence and mutual support between the company and society. While creating economic value, it actively practices corporate social responsibility.
Continued practice in the field of ESG
In the eyes of the outside world, a company's actions in terms of social responsibility are related to whether it is "responsible". Therefore, investors and companies are increasingly paying attention to ESG. Many listed companies in China have already participated, and Winner Medical is one of them. Since 2020, Winner Medical has published social responsibility reports, and its first ESG report after listing has been compiled into a book as an excellent case by the China Securities Association and has been recognized.
According to Li Jianquan's introduction at the summit, Wanjian Group has gone through more than 30 years of entrepreneurial journey and has taken many practical actions influenced by the ESG gene. First, it is reflected in environmental awareness. Winner Medical focuses on natural cotton and established the "All Cotton Era" brand in 2009 based on the previously successful development of the "all-cotton spun-lace nonwoven fabric" technology, entering the consumer field and vigorously promoting the concept of an all-cotton lifestyle. Li Jianquan believes that cotton is drought-resistant, salt-alkali-resistant, sustainable, degradable, natural, safe, comfortable, and healthy for people to use. "Growing cotton can reduce soil erosion and desertification," Li Jianquan said. "Isn't this what we pursue as 'cotton changing the world?'" Over the past 12 years, the All Cotton Era has purchased nearly 300,000 tons of cotton, sold over 31 million sets of all-cotton clothing and bedding, reducing the burden on the environment caused by synthetic fiber products; in the past five years alone, it has sold over 46.6 billion sheets of pure cotton towels, reducing tree felling and protecting forests; it has used over 11.92 million environmentally-friendly all-cotton nonwoven shopping bags, avoiding the use of an equivalent amount of plastic bags. In February 2022, Winner Medical was awarded the "Best Practices for Sustainable Development in 2021 (Sustainable Production and Consumption)" by the Global Compact Network China.
Secondly, Winner Medical has always attached importance to social responsibility and continuously advances in the medical field. During the two large-scale public health emergencies of SARS and COVID-19 as well as other unexpected events, Winner Medical has ensured sufficient production capacity and smooth logistics for epidemic prevention supplies and related medical supplies, ensuring stability and quality.
Furthermore, Li Jianquan stated that Winner Medical's corporate governance level is continuously evolving. From its listing on the US stock market in 2005 to voluntary delisting in 2012, they "completed the transformation from a private company to a public company, improved the legal person governance mechanism, and complied with the strictest Sarbanes-Oxley Act regulations at that time, learning from the management experience of internationalized enterprises," said Li Jianquan. In 2020, Winner Medical was listed on the ChiNext board of the Shenzhen Stock Exchange. The following year, they established a "Strategic and Social Responsibility Committee" at the board level, elevating social responsibility to the same level of importance as their strategic initiatives and launching a comprehensive group risk control system construction project.
Green factories contribute to sustainable development
In 2022, the impact of ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) factors has been increasingly significant. Regulatory agencies in Europe and the United States are accelerating the integration of ESG into their regulatory frameworks. In China, in February of this year, the "Management Measures for the Disclosure of Enterprise Environmental Information in Accordance with the Law" and the "Guidelines for the Format of Disclosure of Enterprise Environmental Information in Accordance with the Law" were officially implemented, imposing unified requirements on companies in terms of environmental protection and sustainable development.
Li Jianquan expressed at the summit that the future of Stable Healthcare is also green and sustainable. In their social responsibility report released in June, Stable Healthcare mentioned their commitment to research and innovate in product materials and production processes, aiming to create diverse environmentally friendly products. They also emphasized the promotion of green factory construction and the improvement of energy efficiency and emission reduction. As the drafting unit, Cotton Era participated in the formulation of the "Sustainable Cotton Production Standard System" for China in the first quarter of this year. In the future, Cotton Era will assist the China Cotton Association in developing and promoting cotton standards for the consumer end, promoting both the quality and environmental improvement of the industry chain.
Green factories require significant optimization in the production process. Li Jianquan revealed several practical measures, stating, "We will continue to optimize energy-saving and emission reduction projects, expand the reuse of treated water, and increase the capacity of solar energy and low-valley water storage for cooling." Li Jianquan set an example in his speech at the summit, stating, "Stable Healthcare's preliminary goals are to achieve carbon peak by 2027 and carbon neutrality by 2050. Let us all take action to create a green and low-carbon living environment while creating both business and social value, and achieve sustainable development for the company."