This paper studies what factors may facilitate or hinder the implementation of Sustainable Supply Chain Management (SSCM) in multinational companies’ (MNC’s) Chinese subsidiaries by focusing on two factors, (i) the Chinese subsidiaries’ absorptive capacity1, and (ii) institutional factors. A case study is conducted in a Danish based MNC, A.P. Moller - Maersk. The conclusion is that absorptive capacity facilitated the implementation of SSCM, while the institutional factors hinder the implementation of SSCM.