From 18th to 19th June 2025, the "9th World Business Ethics Forum," was hosted by the Faculty of Business at the City University of Macau. With the theme of "Managing Ethically in Times of Disruption and Conflict" the forum brought together experts, scholars, and industry peers from academics and industries. Through the keynote speakers, invited speakers, roundtable discussions, and parallel sessions, they discussed the best practices and innovative solutions of business ethics under disruption and conflict.

At the opening ceremony, Professor José Alves, the Dean of the Faculty of Business at the City University of Macau, delivered a speech on the relationship between business problems and business ethics. He explained the importance of ethical management in the current business environment and combined Macau's unique advantages to elaborate on its role as a platform for promoting exchange practices in business ethics and setting a tone of pluralistic integration. The forum also included a sponsorship presentation ceremony and a guest speaker certification presentation ceremony, highlighting the business community's commitment to ethical practices.

On the first day of the forum, Professor Andrew Crane from the University of Bath, U.K., and Professor Simon S. M. HO, President of the Hang Seng University of Hong Kong, presented the keynote speeches. Starting with the topic of "Modern Slavery in Business," Professor Andrew Crane revealed the modern slavery of labor exploitation in turbulent times, emphasizing that enterprises need to establish an ethical prevention and control system from the perspective of supply chain governance. Professor Simon S. M. Ho focused on "Corporate Governance and Sustainable Development," using social contract and stakeholder theories to explain how enterprises achieve value balance within the responsibility framework. The two keynote speeches triggered the reflections on business ethics at the forum.

During the first session, Professors Zhou Shoujin, Yin Juelin, and Zhang Ran shared their different perspectives on the theme of "Incentives and Aspirations for Sustaining the Workforce." Then, the second session invited Dr. Georgina Curto Rex from Senior Research and Team Lead at the UNU Institute, Dr. Stephan Rothlin SJ from University of St Joseph and Ms Ruby O from AVP of Sustainability and Business Synergy to share insights on "New Challenges for Responsible Corporations." The next day, the roundtable discussion focused on "Supporting Sound Business Models," inviting Dr William Yu, Founder and CEO of World Green Organizations, Ms Mary Suen, Founder and Executive Chairman of Chief Happiness Officer Association Limited, Ms Hellen Lok from Director of HR and Sustainability Department of CEM, Mr António Tam from Office of the Secretary for Economy and Finance, Macau SAR to share their practical experiences. Finally, three Deignan Award winners, Mr Edmund Chan, Co-founder of Meat the Next, Mr Paul W. B. Chan, Hanin Enterprises Limited and Ms Emma Yu, Founder of Dress Green Limited to share their stories with their examples of responsible entrepreneurs and new business models.

The forum included innovative research findings from different universities. Parallel sessions covered multiple fields, including "Leadership, Integrity and Sustainable Consumption," "Responsible Accounting and Finance," "Ethical Management," "ESG Practices," "Public Interest for Accounting," "Innovation Protection," and "Environmental Management." Through empirical research and case studies, scholars discussed current topics, such as the ethical application of ChatGPT, greenwashing in digital transformation, and fraud prevention in family businesses, directly addressing the ethical issues in the current business environment and providing academic support for business development.

The 9th World Business Ethics Forum demonstrates the collaboration between academia and business managers in the field of business ethics. The forum's achievements provide new research perspectives for the academic community and offer thoughtful insights for enterprises to address contemporary challenges while maintaining ethical principles. It is expected that, taking this as an opportunity, more stakeholders will work together to explore new paths of business ethics and create a more morally resilient and sustainable business future. The City University of Macau will continue to play its active role as a platform to integrate business ethics into sustainable development.