On October 27, IPC CEMAC 2023 China Electronics Manufacturing Annual Conference was held in Shanghai. With the theme of "Building a Smart Future: Innovation and Cooperation in the Electronics Industry", the annual conference invited industry experts, scholars, and leading enterprise representatives to share and discuss in depth on IPC standards, automotive electronics, advanced packaging, future factories, talents and sustainable development, innovative products and solutions, etc., presenting the industry with the most comprehensive, professional and cutting-edge annual event. Leverage CEO Mr. Qu Weifeng was invited to attend the annual conference.

Mr. Qu was then invited by the organizer to participate in the roundtable sharing session of the "ESG Sustainable Development Forum" and discussed with other guests how Chinese companies can respond to the global ESG craze. In his speech, Mr. Qu mentioned the current development trend of ESG and the challenges and opportunities faced by companies, and also shared the role of the IPC-1401 standard in corporate ESG reporting and ESG management.

This year's IPC CEMAC China Electronics Manufacturing Annual Conference, centered on the mission and vision of IPC, kicked off a large-scale and influential comprehensive electronics industry event, creating new communication opportunities for the development of the electronics industry. In the future, Leverage will use the expertise of its team to provide professional verification services for corporate sustainability reports, providing confidence for customers to cope with sustainable development challenges and face investor scrutiny.

IPC—Association Connecting Electronics Industries (www.IPC.org.cn) is a global electronics industry association.  IPC is headquartered in Bannockburn, Illinois, USA.  IPC helps OEMs, EMS, PCB manufacturers, cable and harness manufacturers, and electronics industry suppliers to better manufacture electronic products.  IPC members create more reliable, high-quality products and increase profitability through the use of IPC standards, certification, education and training, thought leadership, advocacy, innovative solutions, and industry research.  As a member-driven organization, IPC provides services such as industry standards, training and certification, market research, and environmental protection, and meets the needs of this $2 trillion industry worldwide by carrying out various types of industrial projects.

The IPC-1401A Corporate Social Responsibility Management System Standard is aligned with global CSR best practices and is an upgrade of the ISO management system standard. The coverage of the standard has been expanded from procurement functions to the entire value chain. Tables or templates are added after the description of the standard terms, making it easier to understand and use, providing you with a comprehensive CSR solution.

This standard is different from the traditional social or risk-oriented CSR management system. It explicitly proposes an enterprise or business-oriented CSR management system, integrates CSR into business and processes as a customer requirement, product and value chain attribute, and enhances corporate competitiveness through CSR innovation.

The development of the IPC-1401 standard started in 2014, and the first version of the standard was released in 2017 for responsible procurement. At the end of 2021, the standard was upgraded to the second version IPC-1401A, expanding from procurement to all functional departments of the enterprise. IPC-1401 CSR Management System Standard is the first IPC international standard developed by expert volunteers in China. It took more than 400 expert volunteers from more than 20 industry associations and more than 300 companies eight years to create. It can help companies solve many pain points faced by management systems.

As an honest, transparent and responsible third-party supply chain management service company, Leverage is also a certification body of the Certification and Accreditation Administration of China (CNCA-R-2020-707), an inspection and appraisal body of the China National Accreditation Service for Conformity Assessment (CNAS IB0605), a member unit of the LCA Full Life Cycle Green Management Professional Committee, an audit body of the AA1000 Sustainability Report, and a member unit of many international organizations such as UNGC, UNEP, SAI, etc. It has rich experience in corporate social responsibility, ESG, compliance, climate action, etc., and can provide companies with ESG report preparation and verification, corporate social responsibility solutions, ISO management system certification (ISO9001/14001/45001/37301), organizational carbon verification, product carbon footprint accounting, carbon neutrality solutions and other services. We look forward to working with corporate partners to promote China's ESG development and help companies operate sustainably.