On 9 September this year, the Chinese government has issued its 4th Human Rights Action Plan (2021-2025). For the first time, the new national plan calls for promoting responsible business conducted in global supply chains. The plan encourages Chinese businesses to abide by the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights in their foreign trade and investment, to conduct due diligence on human rights, and to fulfill their social responsibility to respect and promote human rights.
In his speech at the opening ceremony on 15 September, Professor Andreassen expressed the importance of clearly mentioning the issue of business and human rights in the new Human Rights Action Plan. He further expressed hope that China’s experience and practices in this area could be and are worthy of further research and sharing by the international academic and business communities.
The event was one of the virtual meetings of the 48th session of the UN Human Rights Council. Nearly 200 experts, scholars, and representative from business sectors participated.
Professor Andreassen visited several universities in China in 2019, and since then he has regularly held lectures at several universities in China on topics related to the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.