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Children at the Beijing Pinggu Special Education Center attended a two-day summer camp with their parents in early June at which they played games, exchanged gifts, performed and took part in a number of other activities.
Organized by the China Foundation for Disabled Persons and sponsored by Samsung China, the summer camp is designed for children with autism and other mental disorders.
Caring for persons with disabilities is an important part of Samsung's commitment to corporate social responsibility in China.
Since 2010, the company has donated 10 million yuan ($1.61 million) annually to the foundation to help people with cataracts regain their vision and assisted in the renovation of the China Rehabilitation Research Center.
It was involved in a rehabilitation campaign for disabled children at the center. Its contribution over the course of the five-year program will total 50 million yuan.
One of the beneficiaries of the projects was a 13-year-old 2012 London Olympic Games torch-bearer named Liu Qingnan who was born with congenital cataracts.
Her family lacked the money needed to treat the disease until 2007, when Samsung paid for a life-changing operation.
In 2008, after she recovered her sight, Samsung sponsored her to go to Beijing to see the Olympics.
In 2012, Samsung recommended her to be a torchbearer for the London Games.
In a letter to the company she wrote: "It was Samsung that allowed me to regain sight, giving me a chance to see the beautiful world. The London Olympics broadened my horizons, inspiring me to uphold the torch of love in my life and I will pass on that torch in the future."
The moving words reflected Samsung's unceasing commitment to do more than simply make life more convenient for persons with disabilities. The company strives to help them regain hope and eventually become self-supporting members of society.
In addition, Samsung China has also launched educational and environmental social responsibility events as well as projects targeted toward rural areas.
In 2012, the company organized a total of 834 public welfare events that involved as many as 43,000 people.
Starting in 2005, Shenzhen SDI, a branch company of Samsung China, gave a radical facelift to the village of Sujiawei in Heyuan, South China's Guangdong province.
To support rural areas, Samsung has launched social public welfare projects based on the principle of pairing branch companies with villages.
In the township of Baitafan in Jinzhai county, East China's Anhui province, the group donated a Project Hope school and established a multimedia classroom for students.
In 2011, the company pledged to invest 10 million yuan annually to build more Samsung Project Hope schools.
In addition, since 2004, the company has funded university volunteers to teach in western China's impoverished suburban areas.
In response to a deteriorating global environment, Samsung China announced in 2008 that it was adopting a philosophy of "green management". The company's staff members regularly join in campaigns aimed at combating pollution in rivers and lakes throughout the country.
In recent years, a new social concern has risen to become a charity priority for the company - education for the children of migrant workers.
The company has selected Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen to host pilots for programs to support this group of children.
In terms of disaster relief, Samsung adheres to its business philosophy of "shared management". It donated a total of 60 million yuan to earthquake-hit areas in Ya'an.
Its funding of the emergency response to 2008 Sichuan earthquake totaled 30 million yuan, and donations to Qinghai's Yushu earthquake relief efforts, 10 million yuan.
A total of 10 Samsung Love schools were set up in Sichuan and 76 Red Cross new villages were built in Yushu.
Just like fish cannot live without water, companies cannot live without society, said Chang Wonkie, president of Samsung China,
Samsung's leading technology and quality products have generated remarkable revenue for the company in China. According to the company, it is committed to giving back to society through more CSR programs. It aims to achieve mutually beneficial interaction with society to achieve its ultimate goal of becoming "A favorite enterprise of the Chinese people that contributes to society."
On March 18 of this year, Samsung marked the 18th anniversary of the establishment of the group's China headquarters. The company launched a grand ceremony celebrating the first year of its new corporate social responsibility management system.
Company leaders have vowed to stage more CSR activities and to work with the Chinese people to build a beautiful China.
yangcheng@chinadaily.com.cn
(China Daily 06/28/2013 page17)
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