Wei said both the company and its 80,000 employees have chipped in to help victims in tsunami-ravaged southeast and south Asia.Jiang Yiman, standing vice-chairwoman of Red Cross Society of China, said this was the largest donation the non-governmental organization had received and wished more Chinese companies would join in the charity drive.

Red Cross Society Chairwoman Peng Peiyun, also vice-chairwoman of the Standing Committee of National People's Congress and honorary president of All-China Women's Federation, conferred the leading shipping company a special medal and a stele inscribed with Chinese characters meaning "philanthropy."

Wei was also granted the title of "honorary directorate" of the Red Cross Society of China.

With more than 600 vessels navigating across the world onbusiness, the China Ocean Shipping Corporation, a giant state-owned company, scored a profit of 10 billion yuan (about 1.2billion US dollars) in 2004.

"Our profit comes from the whole world including tsunami-stricken countries in the Indian Ocean rim. Charity has no borders;it's our obligation to help the needy there," Wei said.

On Dec. 26, a strong earthquake shook the west coast ofIndonesian island of Sumatra. Tsunamis caused by the quake struckSri Lanka, India, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, the Maldives,Myanmar, Bangladesh and the east coast of Africa.