How Do Chinese International Construction Companies View Corporate Social Responsibility?

Corporate social responsibility has been widely accepted as an essential ethic norm for companies in conducting business. China is now catching up in this CSR cause. An emerging force, Chinese international construction companies (CICCs), provides a meaningful lens through which the CSR perception of construction companies in China can be investigated. The aim of this paper, therefore, is to better understand the way CSR is viewed by international construction companies in China. This is undertaken by content analysis of the 168 CSR/ESG reports of CICCs over the 10 years (2010–2019). To achieve this, a CSR indicator system was formed coving 38 reporting contents/indicators based on both CSR reporting guidelines for Chinese enterprises (i.e., CASS-CSR) and the contents of CSR reports collected. There are three main findings, firstly, there is an enriching trend of the CSR reporting over the 10 years, despite that verification of CSR information is still relatively new to CICCs. Secondly, community involvement is mostly welcomed by CICCs in CSR reports, although these activities reported are mainly conducted in their home countries (i.e., China). Lastly, innovations regarding to technology and environment protection as important competitive strategies have been largely adopted by CICCs in CSR reports. CICCs tend to disclose their remedial strategies while hiding their unfavorable performance. This study contributes to the understanding of CSR development in China. CICCs are encouraged to enhance CSR engagement to gain corporate reputation and competitive advantage.