As the Chinese government has been strenuously getting rid of poverty across its vast territory, foreign companies in China have also been active participants in this wide-ranging battle.

To share the poverty reduction experience of foreign enterprises and institutions, an awards ceremony was held recently in Shanghai with nearly 200 people participating.

Certificates were issued to 22 companies with outstanding poverty relief efforts and achievements, covering several aspects like education poverty alleviation, health poverty alleviation, infrastructure poverty alleviation and employment poverty alleviation.

Roche Diagnostics was one of the winners due to its cancer screening for rural residents over the past 20 years. Yao Guoliang, general manager of Roche Diagnostics China, said that Roche Diagnostics is proud to have contributed to China’s rural development, and the company has witnessed the continuous improvement of people’s health and education in Chinese rural areas.

A special fund for Foreign Enterprise Volunteer Service was also established at the conference with the Shanghai Foreign Investment Association, Amway China and L'Oréal China being the first batch of donation units.

24 ink paintings created by wives of foreign executives from the Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation were displayed at the event for auction before being donated to the fund.

Report/ Cao Jun

Translation/ Zheng Qian