On Wednesday evening, I listened to talks by Chinese entrepreneurs on philanthropy and social responsibility at Columbia University, New York.

At least two of them, Niu Gensheng, founder of the dairy giant Mengniu Group, and Cao Dewang, founder of the Fuyao Group, are well-known in China as successful businessmen and philanthropists.

But as they expounded on their Buddhist understanding of philanthropy and their great works of charity, I couldn't help thinking of a report released on Monday by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

The so-called blue paper of 2011 Corporate Social Responsibility graded 300 of the top companies based in China with an average score of only 19.7 out of a possible 100 on a corporate social responsibility index. The 300 firms include the top 100 from the State-owned, foreign-funded and private business sectors. Private businesses, unfortunately, were the only sector scoring lower than a year ago.

While the method being adopted may be debatable, the report shows that some 70 percent of businesses in China lack any sense of social responsibility whatsoever.

This is shocking.

It is no secret that many businesses in China have made a fortune in the past three decades by recklessly polluting the environment and illegal activities, one only has to look at the food and construction industries.

And polluting the environment is still a common practice. After the polluting of coastal regions in previous years, hinterland regions, which are desperate for investment, have become the new victims.

The question now is how much companies, whether State-owned, foreign-funded or privately run, should be made liable for the pollution and corruption they produce.

Many businessmen who took advantage of the country's lax environmental regulations have started to move abroad with their families to escape the environmental degradation they have helped cause, while most of the 1.3 billion Chinese population have to bear the consequences of their actions.

Cleaning up the mess will cost more than all the taxes paid by China-based businesses over the past three decades, but the damage done to our generation and future generations is even greater. The high level of lead in the blood of Chinese children in many cities, for example, has resulted in stunted growth and the incidence of liver and lung cancer and other pollution-related diseases are on the rise. But action to remedy the situation is of course better late than never.

Blaming greedy and unethical businessmen alone will not solve the problems of pollution and corruption. The lawmakers need to close all loopholes that businesses have been taking advantage of for too long and the government needs to strictly enforce the law.

Also the new generation of businesspeople, such as MBA students today, should practice good corporate social responsibility in their jobs and all citizens of the country should demand that corporations observe their social responsibilities.

The philanthropic work done by Cao Dewang and Niu Gensheng are worth commending compared with numerous other Chinese businessmen, who still believe in handing down their huge fortune to their offspring, instead of giving back to society.

But donating a chunk of their profits does not undo the damage that is done in pursuit of these profits.

It is time that all businesses were held accountable for their misdeeds.

The author, based in New York, is deputy editor of China Daily US edition. Email: chenweihua@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 11/11/2011 page9)