IN BRIEF (Page 8)

Huawei helps Bangladesh

China's Huawei Technologies has signed an agreement with the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) to provide $3 million worth of equipment for the university's wireless communication lab and training center.

Huawei entered the Bangladeshi market in 1998, and is now the biggest telecommunication solutions provider in Bangladesh. It has more than 700 local employees now with over 200 graduated from BUET. In December 2007, Huawei donated data communication equipment worth $600,000 to organizations within the country.

Environmental contest

The University of St Andrews and international integrated energy company ConocoPhillips have announced the call for entries for the St Andrews Prize for the Environment.

Applications are invited from individuals, multi-disciplinary teams or community groups for the 2009 annual prize of $75,000 for the winner and $25,000 for each of the two runners-up.

The primary objective of the prize is to find innovative solutions to environmental challenges. The solutions should be practical, combining scientific and economic principles.

Credit card

China UnionPay, together with five major domestic banks, has issued the country's first charity credit card, "Chinese Red". Banks involved include Bank of China and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China. China UnionPay and the banks will donate their commission charge to charity when customers make a purchase with the card. By June, China UnionPay had 1.5 million POS machines, 880,000 shops and 140,000 ATMs linked to its system.

Winning art displayed

Winners of Environmental Protection Painting Competition for Children, sponsored by Luo Hong Environment Foundation, held an exhibition in the headquarters of the United Nations Environmental Program (UNDP) in Kenya recently.

The competition encouraged Chinese children to use their creativity and imagination to portray action they can take to protect the environment. The foundation is established by Chinese private entrepreneur Luo Hong, in collaboration with UNDP.

Museum relief aid

The Bank of Communications signed an agreement with Du Fu Thatched Cottage Museum in Chengdu last month to donate 9 million yuan to its post-quake reconstruction effort.

According to State Administration of Cultural Heritage chief Shan Jixiang, this is the largest donation received by a single museum since the May 12 earthquake.

(China Daily 08/11/2008 page8)