IN BRIEF (Page 10)

Volunteer spirit

The Ministry of Civil Affairs said in a national conference held at the end of 2008 that the country's commitment to charity had been advanced by donations and volunteer work for the devastating May 12 earthquake.

Its statistics showed that in 2006, total charity donations by Chinese was 10 billion yuan and the figure rose to 30.9 billion yuan in 2007. In 2008, donations for Sichuan earthquake relief alone reached 60 billion yuan and the total amount was more than 100 billion yuan.

Education funding

In the fourth quarter of 2008, China has spent 4.4 billion yuan to speed up education development in the middle and western parts of the country.

According to Xu Mei, a spokesperson of the Chinese Ministry of Education, the money was mainly used for reconstruction of school buildings in the rural areas of middle and western China, enhancing the basic facilities of the secondary and vocational education departments in the regions, and supplying additional teaching aids and equipment to them, and the construction of schools for special education.

Innovative classroom

The South Korean group SK Holdings and China Guanghua Foundation recently established a SK Guanghua Innovation Classroom at Beijing's No 4 High School.

The SK Guanghua Innovation Classroom was first launched in 2006 by China Guanghua Foundation, which is dedicated to building more classrooms in junior/senior high schools of China to cultivate innovative thinking and capability through practical work.

More than 10 such classrooms in Beijing, Dalian, and Chengdu have been put into use.

Hemophilia care

Pharmaceutical company Bayer Schering Pharmaceuticals has pledged 1.5 million euros to develop hemophilia treatment centers throughout China.

Over the next five years, Bayer's donation will fund a variety of necessities and activities, including equipment and supplies, patient programs, educational materials, medical training, and nursing support. The Bayer China Hemophilia Treatment Center Development Project is a partnership between Bayer Schering Pharmaceuticals and the Chinese Society of Hematology to improve hemophilia care throughout the country.

(China Daily 01/05/2009 page10)