Now I’ve had an opportunity to work more deeply with social entrepreneurs here in Beijing, Tianjin and Chongqing I can see increasing philosophical discussions around the perception and (mis)conceptions of some of the general public, business and government with regard to the motives of Chinese social entrepreneurs.

There seems to be prevailing thinking that stakeholders are constantly asking “Why are you doing this? “, “What’s in it for you?”, “ What’s the catch?” or “Do they have a hidden agenda rather than a desire to address a social problem or environmental issue?”.

While this mind set is a challenge for the emerging social enterprise sector in China it seems to be lessening, for instance when compared to conversations from last year. Clearly rapid progress is being made.

Once the greater part of Chinese society is totally on side I don’t think there will be any stoping the sector.

Published: July 2, 2013. Categories: News and Robert's Blog.