The Current Situation and Insights of Human Rights Due Diligence Implementation in Chinese Multinational Enterprises: The Case Study of Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt Co., Ltd.

Abstract

In the global cobalt supply chain, the illegal employment of child labor by multinational companies is a very common phenomenon, and child laborers are often exposed to poor working conditions, which are extremely harmful to their physical and mental health. And behind these phenomena, it indicates that the international community has not been successful in ensuring adequate implementation of human rights due diligence for multinational corporations. This paper will take the supply chain human rights crisis and response measures of Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt Co., Ltd. in China as an example, and use case study method and literature research method to explore the current situation and insights of human rights due diligence implementation in Chinese multinational enterprises. It has been discovered through research that Chinese multinational corporations face several challenges in carrying out human rights due diligence, such as the lack of an institutionalized human rights due diligence mechanism and insufficient understanding of human rights risks. Based on this, this paper proposes the following recommendations: accelerating the formulation of human rights due diligence standards and norms; bridging the gap between domestic and foreign mandatory human rights due diligence laws; raising the awareness of human rights protection within enterprises; and strengthening human rights risk management in the supply chain.