On June 19, a new research institute for studying internet development was founded and a forum on the social responsibility of enterprises was held at Beijing Normal University.

Hong Hu, former deputy director of the Legislative Affairs Commission under the National People’s Congress of the People’s Republic of China, said that over the course of China’s growth into a cyber power, it is vital to promote academic research on policies related to the development and governance of the internet. Building high-end internet-based think tanks is of profound significance to enhancing communication among governments, enterprises, universities and research institutes. It is also of great importance to providing better services to aid government policies and strategies and achieving the strategic goal of the building of a cyber power.

Ni Guangnan, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, said that a new round of technological revolution centered on information technology is emerging. The study of the internet has increasingly become a focal point for international academia and think tanks.

Hao Fanghua, vice president of Beijing Normal University, said that by gathering resources at home and abroad, the institute will conduct research on the internet and related policies and provide intellectual support for the building of a cyber power.

A report on enterprises’ social responsibilities was released at the forum. Research fields include e-commerce, social media, video, transportation, automobile services, medical care and health, tourism, and online games. The report chose 110 objects for analysis and evaluated enterprises’ performance in social responsibility through indicators of social value, product and service liability, entrepreneurs’ obligations, responsible management, corporate philanthropy, and adverse impact.

The report shows that, on the whole, huge gaps exist among different social industries in terms of the social liability indicators. The medical care and health industry topped the list for performance while the online gaming, video and transportation sectors scored low. The video industry scored first for product and service liability, while the tourism sector performed worse. In terms of entrepreneurs’ obligations, the medical care and health industry and the tourism sector scored highest, compared with transportation’s relatively low ranking. With respect to corporate philanthropy, the tourism and ecommerce industries performed best. As for social value, the online gaming industry fell significantly behind the other seven.