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Corporate Responsibility

Beijing Financial Street Photo Club Established

The Beijing Financial Street Photo Club, sponsored by the Chamber of Financial Street, was established on April 6, 2006. And also launched at the ceremony was the “Dynamic Financial Centre in View “ photo contest.

The photo club was founded to encourage photographic fans to participate in the recording of the culture and achievements of the Financial Street area and in doing this support preparations for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.

Officials with the Chamber of Financial Street and the Beijing Municipal Government attended in the ceremony. Xu Zugen, director of Photo Division of Xinhua News Agency, Wang Wenlan, director of the China Daily photo department and many other experts in major media organizations were invited to act as judges for the “Dynamic Financial Centre in View” photo contest.

Shutterbugs may begin submitting their works to the Chamber of the Financial Street immediately to participate in the photo contest, perhaps even to win one of the several lucrative prizes provided by the sponsor.

M.A.C. Donates Funds for HIV/AIDS Control in China

M.A.C. AIDS Fund announced on March 30, 2007, a 1 million yuan (US$130,000) donation to UNICEF-China in support of the “Unite for Children, Unite against AIDS” global campaign, launched in 2006 by the Chinese Government.

Carol Shen, managing director of Estee Lauder and owner of the M.A.C. Cosmetics brand, presented the check to UNICEF-China representative Dr. Yin Yin Nwe at a press conference in Beijing. M.A.C. is an international partner of UNICEF and supports the organization's work with children and with AIDS sufferers with funds generated from their “VIVA GLAM” lipstick and other social programme revenues.

To better educate Chinese youths, M.A.C. and UNICEF will launch a “Ten Facts on AIDS" campaign. The "Ten Facts” will tell young people how to protect themselves from HIV/AIDS, while also encouraging them to respect those living with or affected by the pandemic. M.A.C’s donation will be used to mobilize Youth Ambassadors and celebrities from China for the vital task of raising youth awareness.

“This partnership demonstrates China’s private sector leadership in responding to young people and AIDS”, said Dr.Yin. “It is an excellent example of a win-win partnership for young people, for businesses, for China’s fight against AIDS.”

Olympic Hotels get Environmental Checks

The Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad on April 3, 2007, said the committee has begun to accept Olympic hotel applications for environmental protection audits. Reviews of applications will begin within a few months.

Expert groups will look through the environmental protection projects of 2008 Olympic Games contracted hotels. Hotels must meet certain criteria to get or maintain certification as Green Hotels by the China National Tourism Administration. This act aims to encourage hotels to maintain their focuses on environmental protection.

BOCOG has asked all the Olympic-contracted hotels to finish their green-hotel preparations before June 30, 2007. Hotels that cannot pass the inspection will not be able to participate in BOCOG’s Olympic programmes.

Fifty-two of the 112 contracted hotels for the Olympic Games passed green-hotel assessments in 2006.

Lenovo Tops Greenpeace Guide to Greener Electronics

The latest edition of the Greenpeace Guide (issued on April 3, by Greenpeace, a global environmental organization), which ranks companies on their policies regarding chemical and electronic waste recovery, says Chinese PC-maker Lenovo is No. 1, displacing Nokia from the lead it had maintained.

Sony and LG Electronics received penalty points for operating double standards on their e-waste take-back policies across the world, losing their places in the top five, while Apple, having made no progress since the launch of the Guide in August 2006, continues to languish in last place.

“Given the growing mountains of e-waste in China°™both imported and domestically generated°™it is heartening to see a Chinese company taking the lead, and assuming responsibility at least for its own branded waste,” said Iza Kruszewska, a Greenpeace international toxics campaigner. “The challenge for the industry now is to see who will actually place greener products on the market.”

Lenovo, which bought IBM’s consumer electronics division in 2005, scored top marks with its e-waste policies and practices; the company offers take-back and recycling in all the countries where its products are sold. Lenovo also reports the amount of e-waste it recycles as a percentage of its sales. However, Greenpeace said the company has yet to put on the market products that are free of the worst chemicals.

Other companies in the top five, from second to fifth place were: Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Dell and Samsung.