China Southern Power Grid Zhao Jianguo: The power grid is inherently monopolistic

A few days ago, Zhao Jianguo, chairman of China Southern Power Grid Co., Ltd., accepted an exclusive interview with the “Global Compact” program. In an exclusive interview, Zhao Jianguo said that as a grid company, the primary task is to solve the problem of universal access to electricity. He said that although China Southern Power Grid is a company that sells electricity, it provides services to help users reduce electricity consumption as much as possible.

Moderator: Hello everybody, welcome to the high-end talk show created by the United Nations "Global Compact" organization and Tencent.com, dialogue Global Compact - China's corporate responsibility pioneer in action, I am Liu Meng. Today, we are very honored to be invited by Mr. Zhao Jianguo, Chairman of China Southern Power Grid. Welcome.

Zhao Jianguo: Hello, thank you. Today, I'm very happy to use the UN Global Compact platform to have the opportunity to dialogue with global advanced companies. China Southern Power Grid Corporation was established after China’s power system reform in 2002. China has split the original power company into seven, the State Grid, China Southern Power Grid and five power generation companies, Southern Power Grid is responsible for managing five provinces in southern China, Yunnan, Guizhou, Guangxi, Guangdong and Hainan. Connecting with Hong Kong, Macao, Vietnam, and Laos at the same time is equivalent to a transnational regional power grid.

Moderator: Chairman Zhao, in which year did China Southern Power Grid join the UN Global Compact organization?

Zhao Jianguo: The application was filed in March 2010 and was soon approved by the United Nations.

Moderator: Why did you make this decision and apply to join the UN Global Compact organization?

Zhao Jianguo: At that time we wanted the United Nations “Global Compact” organization to put forward ten principles. There are two aspects. In the first aspect, we can use this platform to communicate, dialogue and communicate with global advanced enterprises and promote the healthy development of enterprises. The United Nations "Global Compact" proposes ten principles that are highly consistent with company requirements. We believe that we must use this platform to promote better and faster development of the company.

Moderator: With more than two years of participation, what are your feelings?

Zhao Jianguo: My biggest feeling is that communication through this platform will enable our companies to look at Chinese companies in a global perspective, and to see global companies from the perspective of China. This strengthens international exchanges and cooperation, and promotes companies to be healthy and beneficial. development of.

Moderator: To achieve sustainable development.

Zhao Jianguo: To achieve sustainable development.

Moderator: In the ten principles of the Global Compact, covering the four areas of human rights, labor, environmental protection, and anti-corruption, from the perspective of China Southern Power Grid, which area do you think is the most serious challenge?

Zhao Jianguo: There are four aspects in the Ten Articles. It should be said that there are challenges. The deepest thing I should feel is that there should be two aspects in the current situation in China. In the first area, the United Nations calls labor, Chinese companies are called employees, and employees originally had no problems in the past. In one aspect, our country has “Labor Law” guarantees. There are trade union organizations in the enterprise and significant issues are clearly defined. It was passed by the staff and workers' congress, so it should be said that the legitimate rights and interests of the employees are guaranteed. The overall situation is as follows. However, as China's reform and opening up has developed relatively rapidly during the past 30 years, there have been a lot of uncoordinated and inconsistent aspects in labor relations and distribution relations in the enterprises. This may be unclear to you, that is, it is ubiquitous in state-owned enterprises. In the past, the old workers, new employees, old employees had old treatment, new employees had new treatment, there were hiring workers, etc. There were many kinds of labor relations because various labor relations led to a variety of distribution relations. Therefore, there are some contradictions in the emergence of some remuneration and equal treatment among the same workers. These contradictions are also a challenge. We have tens of thousands of employees in the 330,000 employees who belong to this category. We are also gradually standardizing in accordance with the requirements of the "Labor Law."

Moderator: In addition to the old employees and new employees, in fact, in the process of going abroad for China Southern Power Grid, participating in international cooperation is also divided into domestic employees and overseas employees. I know that China Southern Power Grid has some cooperation projects overseas and the power industry The frontline staff may be in very difficult conditions. How do you take into account the maintenance of domestic employees and the effective rights and interests of these overseas employees?

Zhao Jianguo: The basic principle of our overseas employees is that our overseas employees and locally-employed employees have the same principle in terms of treatment. Different positions differ.

Moderator: You just talked about two major challenges. One is on the labor side. The other is?

Zhao Jianguo: On the other hand, I think that in terms of environmental protection and environmental protection, it is green development, because China is a country with large energy consumption, direct electricity, and an energy supply industry. In this regard, the country has a series of policies and implements policies. In the process, there are conflicts with interests of our stakeholders and national policies and local governments. There are still contradictions between them. In this respect, the balance is also a great challenge for us.

Moderator: As the highest decision maker in your company, how do you balance the economic pressure you just mentioned and the benefits of the society?

Zhao Jianguo: This is actually a relationship between social benefits and business benefits, because grid companies have different places with other companies.

Moderator: Where are the differences?

Zhao Jianguo: In different places, the first is the relative physical monopoly. It is impossible for any national grid to add two because your home's electricity supply line can only be one, and it is relatively monopolized physically. In addition to one in this region, It is possible to find the second home. This is a relative monopoly. This is a feature.

The second characteristic is that it has a certain degree of public welfare, especially under the current grid control framework in China, because of the public welfare and the responsibility for universal service, which is the characteristics of China's power grid companies and the characteristics of the enterprise itself. Therefore, these characteristics determine the future, that is, in the power grid companies, in the process of conflict between social benefits and corporate profits, should first consider the social benefits. Because we take the uninterrupted power supply to our users as the primary responsibility and task.

Moderator: It reminds me of a new initiative promulgated by the UN Secretary-General last year that all people enjoy sustainable energy. One of the most important aspects is the global use and enjoyment of energy. I recall that the Secretary-General of the United Nations said at the time that he was talking about it. When I was young, at that time, my family had no electricity, so after school, he could only learn in the house through the afterglow of the sun. Nearly 1.5 billion people in developing countries do not have electricity, and at the same time if there is such an energy supply Because millions of poor people cannot afford it, access to clean, reliable, and cheap energy has become one of the major obstacles to the achievement of the UN Millennium Development Goals. When we say that corporate social responsibility, in fact, companies can have the greatest impact is through the company's core business, then my understanding is that the core business of China Southern Power Grid is the popularization of electricity, and the convenience brought by everyone using the energy.

Chairman Zhao, able to combine the experience of China Southern Power Grid and your main business, talk about how to popularize this kind of electricity use in China, especially to solve the problem of power consumption in some poor areas?

Zhao Jianguo: Your question is very good, because there is a universal service problem for power grid companies, and there are also issues that the United Nations has proposed for everyone to enjoy energy. This formulation is very good. Our Chinese companies are the first to advocate for people. We have the right to the equal use of energy, because we are a big country and a big country where energy is relatively consumed, but there are also imbalances. China did exactly what you said. Many remote rural areas still have people who do not have access to electricity. China Southern Power Grid says that there are still 77,000 people who do not have access to electricity. However, this matter should be viewed in this way. From the past decade, it should be said that the Central Government and the State Council attach great importance to solving the problem of electricity in rural areas. Our country has had a round from 1998 to 1998. The transformation of the new rural power grid, which may be started in 1998, has been maintained for 10 years, and the rural power grid has undergone a general transformation to solve most of the electricity problems in rural areas. However, as a result of the accumulation, there are still nearly 500,000 households left in the southern region. By the end of the “10th Five-Year Plan”, more than 500,000 households have not yet used electricity, but these distributions are in mountainous areas or are relatively difficult to reach. But we have been working hard to solve this problem.

Moderator: What kind of concrete measures to take?

Zhao Jianguo: During the “Eleventh Five-Year Plan” period, the problem of solving villages without electricity and those without electricity was taken as a major task. Therefore, during the “Eleventh Five-Year Plan” period, when China Southern Power Grid invested, in order to solve the rural power supply problem, we With a total investment of 69 billion yuan, we have 77,000 households left so far. We plan to gradually resolve it during the 12th Five-Year Plan period. However, there is a problem here. We consult with the local government and the relevant state agencies, because the remaining households are relatively expensive. We propose an idea that if this money for solving the electricity problem is used for their relocation, there may be surpluses, and even this family can get rich. But the cost of solving electricity is too high, and the amount of electricity used is very small, and the improvement of life is not yet particularly obvious.

So how do these specific issues solve their problems? We also negotiate with the local government and whether we can work together with the government and the electricity sector, including my own wishes, to discuss solutions.

Moderator: So when the company solves social problems, it also fully consults and considers the needs of local community residents.

Zhao Jianguo: Yes. Helping users to use the least amount of electric hosts: In fact, the UN Global Compact also emphasizes that companies must fully consider the actual needs of local economic development, both domestically and internationally, in order to promote the sustainable development of the company itself. At the same time, it promotes harmony and progress in the area. Chairman Zhao, just now you talked about the fact that the power grid is a power industry that belongs to energy. Do you think that you have any responsibility for energy saving and emission reduction on your shoulders?

Zhao Jianguo: Energy conservation and emission reduction should be regarded as the highlight of our company's performance in social responsibility. One is a big environment. From our country, at present our energy consumption level is relatively high. There is one data as evidence. About a few years ago, the data of our country's GDP per unit of electricity consumption, for every dollar of GDP generated The electricity consumption consumes four times as much electricity as that of the United States. Therefore, according to this problem, and through the primary energy consumed by electricity, our country accounts for about 45% of the total primary energy. This represents the development level of a country. It may be higher in the United States. That is to say, primary energy includes coal, water, nuclear, wind, and solar energy. How much of this total amount of primary energy is consumed each year, but it is converted into electricity consumption through electricity. The proportion of about 45%.

Moderator: Involving energy efficiency issues, is it related to technological development?

Zhao Jianguo: The proportion of electricity consumption is relatively high, so in this respect, the amount of primary energy consumed by electricity is also so much. This is equivalent to the total primary energy consumption. Because of the large number of electricity impacts, it is the grid company itself. There may not be much space, but the upstream affects the consumption of power generation companies, and the downstream also has a major impact on users' energy consumption. Therefore, as a grid company, if it does not undertake social responsibilities, it will take care of me. If we want to stand at the national level, even a reduction in global primary energy consumption should be a big deal.

Moderator: In the technical equipment is also the survival of the fittest.

Zhao Jianguo: It is also the survival of the fittest. From our own two aspects: First, through comprehensive optimization of balance, the balance of the system, can be sent out once the electricity consumption is less, there is the least consumption of chemical energy at a time, we are the least loss, this year the loss is reduced by 100% A little bit. The current year is more than 660 billion yuan of electricity, 1% is 6.6 billion, and 6.6 billion is equivalent to medium-sized cities. So this is to reduce losses in our own grid. Of course, this includes technological advancement. We use ultra-high voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission, which is the first in the world and won the first prize of China's scientific and technological progress.

Second, the impact on users. The impact on people's electricity use. I am an enterprise that sells electricity. I hope that everyone will use electricity. We are still standing at the point of fulfilling our social responsibilities. We provide users with the least possible power supply to provide some services. We specifically do every year we need to save energy for nearly 10,000 users. The diagnosis, let him use how electricity can consume the least.

Moderator: This is a free service.

Zhao Jianguo: Free service. Second, a problem was found during the service process. Many companies saw savings, but he was unwilling to invest in reform.

Moderator: Because of cost issues.

Zhao Jianguo: Although paying higher electricity bills now, it will not be such a big investment.

Moderator: In fact, this is also a different understanding of costs, environmental costs are also a kind of, perhaps more expensive costs.

Zhao Jianguo: In order to solve this problem, we have set up an energy conservation service company. I will transform it for you. Your saved electricity bill will be my reward. As you do not increase your burden, my technical upgrade will return to you. Now the company has already run. Some work has also been done, but it is still a process for users to accept. But I believe this is a sunrise industry and it will be a new industry.

Moderator: Do you share how China Southern Power Grid helps users to use less electricity?

Zhao Jianguo: Yes, helping users to use less electricity, instead of allowing him to use more electricity, and fulfilling social responsibilities, is also the biggest contribution to global energy-saving emission reduction.

South Network Green Roadmap Moderator: I also know that China Southern Power Grid has carried out green operations since 2007, and you have also published a white paper on the development of China Southern Power Grid. In your mind, for the power grid industry, What kind of path is this green development?

Zhao Jianguo: What is my thinking? Why is green development based on the relatively high proportion of primary energy consumption in our country? The unit GDP benefit is not very good. As a grid company, though its influence is limited, it is because it is still an energy industry. The road map has just been mentioned. We hope that starting from the power plant planning and power supply planning, we will use green energy as much as possible, such as reasonable layout, wind power, solar energy, new energy, and orderly development. The second is to support it vigorously. Nowadays, some new energy sources with mature technologies, such as hydropower and nuclear power, can be said that I support nuclear power because, apart from coal, nuclear power is technically more mature in our country. It is promising. Support the development of nuclear power.

Moderator: Of course, security is certainly the most important prerequisite.

Zhao Jianguo: At present, I personally believe that at present, the safety of nuclear power is at least in the current environment. If it is compared with pollution, his safety should be acceptable to human beings. I think so. Therefore, from the power supply, we hope to plan and guide the development of the power plant, which can minimize the overall consumption and consume the lowest fossil fuel energy. Second, we must actively reduce electricity consumption for users. We must provide this service. Ultimately, it is the maximum energy efficiency of the entire society.

Moderator: Do Southern Grid employees have this awareness? I know that on May 20 last year, it was China Southern Power Grid’s “Social Responsibility Day.” Why set up such a special day?

Zhao Jianguo: This is also a problem that we are considering with the continuous deepening of social responsibility practice activities. Since social responsibility reports are published every year, the past is basically that often when the report was first started, the results of the year were announced to the society. So now We think that one is to establish a sense of social responsibility for all employees, and at the same time allow the society to understand the power grid and understand some of the power.

Zhao Jianguo: Therefore, our social responsibility day, or the two purposes mentioned in the Responsibility Day, is that all the first employees are involved. The participation mainly increases the sense of responsibility, and the second publicizes the problem of saving electricity, safe electricity, and scientific electricity. Therefore, the number of personnel and social personnel participating in this year's Social Responsibility Day activities is estimated to be more than 40,000. This will allow us to achieve communication between the power grid companies and the society.

Moderator: An interaction.

Zhao Jianguo: An interactive, common understanding of electricity, saving electricity awareness, and saving energy awareness, achieve this goal.

Moderator: China Southern Power Grid has just released the Social Responsibility Report for 2011. I read this report with an innovative concept called process management of social responsibility. Can you share it?

Zhao Jianguo: The process management of social responsibility. In the first few years before we started, when we compiled the social responsibility report, we summarized and reported on the social responsibilities we assumed this year.

Moderator: It is a post-mortem report.

Zhao Jianguo: It is a post-event reporting system. We have found that social responsibility is a long-term one. The so-called corporate social responsibility is a kind of work that increases core competitiveness and is truly socially responsible. It cannot be treated as an afterthought, so we want to combine it with the daily work of the enterprise. Therefore, in order to strengthen the social responsibility of a series of work, we decomposed many indicators and integrated it into the management of enterprises. As a daily task, that is to say, social responsibility, integration into day-to-day management, process management, and process control, it is not A purely social responsibility work is one part of the work of an enterprise as a whole.

Moderator: Chairman Zhao, who spoke just now was particularly good. When you talk about social responsibility, we know that when we talk about social responsibility, this is a particularly abstract concept. It can often be achieved through some indicators of sustainable development. It is refined and quantified. Only through refinement and quantification can comparison be made. One is horizontal comparison, the other is the comparison between the same industry and different industries, and some progress made by the company in different periods. In the process of implementing this kind of procedural management, China Southern Power Grid promotes the overall level of sustainable management for the entire enterprise through the establishment and release of corporate social responsibility.

Zhao Jianguo: The question you asked is very good. This is the problem of process management refinement. Now we have divided some indicators related to social responsibility into 5 categories, then 22 dimensions, and more than 180 indicators. This breaks down the indicators into Each management department manages as a day-to-day management work, so that social responsibility can be changed from past result management to daily management.

Moderator: I know Chairman Zhao, under your leadership, China Southern Power Grid attaches great importance to corporate social responsibility. At the same time, we also emphasize that social responsibility cannot be supported only from the top level. It is also necessary to implement it under the power grid. Is there a department with social responsibility or appointing relevant professionals to do this? Or do we integrate social responsibility into the entire operation across different production and business processes?

Zhao Jianguo: First of all, we have integrated social responsibility into daily management. However, this work is a very important task after all. Therefore, we have also set up a department as a department for coordination and supervision. They have a special department responsible for this matter.

The advantages of going out are in talents and capital host: Now that more and more Chinese companies are going out to invest overseas, what kind of responsibilities do you think Chinese companies can have for the sustainable development of the world and how can they make positive contributions? ?

Zhao Jianguo: I think that Chinese companies make the greatest contribution to society and to the international community. They are the ones that can influence themselves and the companies they consume. This view I don’t know if you can accept because we’re a big consumer of energy. It is four times that of the United States, six to eight times that of the United States, and six to eight times that of Japan. After all, it consumes a lot. I think the first is that the stakeholders that we and ourselves can influence can achieve the lowest consumption. This is itself a Big contribution, greatest contribution. Of course, in the development of Chinese companies today, they also have the conditions for going abroad. However, we have analyzed the conditions for going out, and what are the advantages of Chinese companies. I think so. First, it is a labor advantage.

It is the Chinese people's relatively largest human resources. Therefore, our company, especially the largest human resources and technical personnel of the central enterprises, is very much because we are in the process of dealing with some of our international counterparts. They are very lacking in professional engineers. There are many more, so this should be a big aspect of cooperation with the international community in the future.

Moderator: Our country attaches great importance to scientific and technological development and personnel training.

Zhao Jianguo: Yes, talent training. This aspect can be yes. The second is capital. Now that there are more foreign exchange reserves in capital, there are some policies that companies can use to go out and invest. However, investment should choose a good direction and there are suitable ones. We are willing to do something together with some foreign companies. However, it is not a matter of investing in projects. It must be selective, able to help China, benefit the world, benefit each other, and benefit companies. This is based on our own strengths.

However, as China Southern Power Grid is concerned, the hope of the largest international cooperation in China Southern Power Grid is that it can be networked in the Greater Mekong Region. Because networked operations can optimize the allocation of resources in this area.

Moderator: In the course of regional cooperation, will it also fully consider the needs of local stakeholders and conduct some regular communication between them?

Zhao Jianguo: Yes. So now we are promoting the establishment of a communication mechanism for the Greater Mekong countries, that is, we can understand each other, understand each other, and reach consensus on sharing this piece of interests, because networking can bring about comprehensive benefits. However, this piece of benefit can be shared. Consensus on this aspect needs to be negotiated. Because each country has the ideas of various countries, both economic and political considerations, we are actively promoting it.

We look forward to the Rio+20 exchange of sustainable development experience Moderator: The United Nations "Global Compact" organizes our philosophy is that although we have competition, but more importantly cooperation, there is now a new word called "co-occurrence", competition and cooperation, cooperation is greater than competition. In 2012, the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development will be held in Rio in Brazil in June. The UN Global Compact will provide enterprises with a platform to make their voice heard. We will hold the Rio+20 Corporate Sustainability Summit and you are ready to participate. Is this summit?

Zhao Jianguo: Yes. I have decided to leave on June 9 to attend this meeting.

Moderator: We look forward to seeing you again. What are your expectations for this conference?

Zhao Jianguo: I want to pass this conference, especially the exchanges with the business community, especially the exchanges with the industry, to discuss some good practices in sustainable development, to learn some good practices, and to obtain some new energy technologies. experience.

Moderator: We hope that you will also be able to bring the good experience of the South Network to the international community, and also bring internationally good experience back to the South Network. Well, thank you, Chairman Zhao Jianguo, the leader of responsibility.

Zhao Jianguo: Thank you.