A blessing in disguise of the ongoing crisis of Western capitalism may be the rise of a new version of a market economy that is more humane, just and equitable. The country that may evolve this approach to capitalism is China, which this year will replace Japan as the second largest economy in the world. I have come to this conclusion after reading a very interesting article by a Hong Kong-based investment banker named Richard S. Roque. In a study entitled "Confucian Mechants of the Third Millennium" which he co-authored with Mark Li and Wu Cheng-Hao, Mr. Roque wrote about a class of "Confucian Merchants" who in the sixth century BC used their wealth to bring about a more just and equitable society. These merchants were inspired by Confucius, who taught that the highest form of virtue is "ren", human heartedness which consists of loving others (which coincides with the teachings of Christianity).

According to Mr. Roque, today there is an emerging revival of Confucianism and the promotion of the Modern Confucian Merchant whose basic qualities are an upright moral character; an ability to balance profit with righteousness; courageousness and a competitive spirit; spirit of innovation and entrepreneurship and a people-oriented management. Christian social doctrine – which is aimed at all men and women of good will and not only to Catholics – unsurprisingly coincides with Confucian teachings. The following are the main tenets of Confucianism as it applies to the world of business:

• The individual profit of an economic enterprise must never be the sole objective. Together with this objective there is another equally fundamental but of a higher order: Social usefulness, which must be brought about not in contrast but in keeping with the logic of the market. When the free market carries out the important functions mentioned above it becomes a service to the common good and to integral human development.

• True economic development is meant to produce real growth, of benefit to everyone and genuinely sustainable.

• Profit is useful if it serves a means towards an end that provides a sense of how to produce it and how to make good use of it. Once profit becomes an exclusive goal, it is produced by improper means and without the common good as its ultimate end, it risks destroying wealth and creating poverty.

• A business enterprise must be a community of solidarity that is not closed within its own company interests. It must move in the direction of a "social ecology" of work and contribute to the common good also by protecting the natural environment.

These are clearly principles of natural law, as taught by Catholic social doctrine. As Confucianism is revived in China, a new approach to capitalism or the market economy will evolve. Mr. Roque et al are optimistic that we shall witness the emergence of a new class of enterprises in Greater China that will be enduring and sustainable, making the world a better place. To quote their study: "We are confident that there will emerge a new breed of enterprises ranging from: (1) non-profit sustainable social enterprises, to (2) commercial enterprises with a philanthropy arm all the way to (3) for-profit social enterprises. The common thread amongst these enterprises is two-fold: (a) they all make profit; and (b) they are motivated by a social cause. In the non-profit case the profit generated is meant to allow it to sustain its operations year after year."

Already there are concrete examples in China of these new types of enterprises. A company called 1 kg.org based in Shanghai uses the income earned from corporate-sponsored book shelves to continuously run the platform which innovatively combines sightseeing, volunteering with delivering books, stationery and information to poor rural area students. Then there are entrepreneurs from Hong Kong and Taiwan such as Li Ka Shing and Sayling Wen who have established foundations aimed at supporting poverty alleviation initiatives in health and education. Then there is the social enterprise model of Carpenter Tan, a wooden accessories manufacturing, franchising and retail enterprise based in Southwest China that assists people with disabilities enter the labor market by providing them with appropriate training so that they move from welfare reliance to self-reliance. More than fifty percent of the company's employees (over 300) at the manufacturing facilities are handicapped and have some form of disabilities, such as persons who are deaf, dumb, crippled and those who suffer from slight learning disability.

These trends in China illustrate what Pope Benedict XVI advocates in his encyclical Caritas in Veritate: "...It is helpful to observe that business enterprise involves a wide range of values, becoming wider all the time. The continuing hegemony of the binary model of market-plus-State has accustomed us to think only in terms of the private business leader of a capitalistic bent on the one hand, and the State director on the other. In reality, business has to be understood in an articulated way. There are a number of reasons, of a meta-economic kind, for saying this. Business activity has a human significance, prior to its professional one...In order to construct an economy that will soon be in a position to serve the national and global common good, it is appropriate to take account of the broader significant of business activity. It favours cross-fertilization between different types of business activity, with shifting of competences from the 'non-profit' world to the 'profit' world and vice versa, from the public world to that of civil society, from advanced economies to developing countries."

These trends are not unknown in the Philippines. There are concrete examples of the three types of socially-oriented business organizations. In fact, Mr. Roque will speak in a major conference linking enterprises with the common good and the spirit of service to society. This conference will be at the University of Asia and the Pacific on June 29, 2010. Those interested in attending the conference may get in touch with Dr. Avic Caparas at her email address victoria.caparas@uap.asia or consult the website http://caritasinveritate.uap.asia/index.php. For comments, my email address is bvillegas@uap.edu.ph.