IN BRIEF (Page 8)

20 million yuan in quake aid

The Chinese Red Cross Foundation received donation of 20 million yuan for earthquake disaster relief from Shanxi Liansheng Group, a private energy corporation.

According to the foundation, it is the largest donation by a Chinese private enterprises to date. The fund will be used for tents, clothes and strengthening medical care services.

Daimler chips in

Together with its local companies, Daimler North East Asia (DNEA) and Beijing Benz-DaimlerChrysler Automotive Ltd, Daimler AG is supporting the earthquake victims with a donation of 500,000 euros.

The donation will go to aid organizations such as China Charity Foundation and the Red Cross Society of China. In addition, DNEA has provided the Chinese authorities with trucks for use in disaster areas.

Color of charity

The Chinese Red Cross Foundation (CRCF) launched a nationwide "Chinese Red" philanthropic program recently

The program is to inspire domestic and foreign enterprises to design a red-colored or packaged product and donate a part of the profits of the product to CRCF for medical care improvements in rural China. Those who buy the red products can participate in charity work without additional cost.

Businesses including Microsoft MSN, Glanze and Gome have signed contracts to take part in the program.

Real estate donations

Domestic and foreign real estate companies' donations to earthquake-stricken areas exceeded 255 million yuan by May 15, according to house.china.cn, a leading property website in China.

The companies include CapitaLand, Soho China, Greenland, New World and Poly Property. In addition to cash, the donations included vans, rescue equipment, tents and medicine.

Clean water

The US-based water processing company Pentair Water has donated water processing facilities worth about 300,000 yuan to charities in western China.

The water processing facilities donated by Pentair can produce directly drinkable water. These facilities will be given to poor schools in western China. Pentair says it will continue to support public charity projects to provide more Chinese children access to clean fresh water.

Established in 1966, the company has become one of the largest water processing equipment manufacturers in the world and its global business revenues reached $3.4 billion in 2007.

(China Daily 05/26/2008 page8)