Multinationals honored with Excellence Awards
Multinational companies shared their experiences in innovation, sustainability and corporate social responsibility at an awards ceremony held by Shanghai Daily on Wednesday.
The “Innovation and Sustainability” 2020 Excellence Awards for Corporate Social Responsibility aims to showcase various initiatives and cases of enterprises’ innovation and sustainable development, and their contributions to the sustainable and healthy development of the city’s economy and society.
Twelve companies won Excellence Awards for Innovation 2020, while 31 achieved Excellence Awards for Sustainability 2020.
A total of 158 companies applied for this year’s awards.
A total of 12 companies receive the Excellence Awards for Innovation 2020.
Innovation awards focus on companies using innovative ideas and practices to promote the development and upgrading of the city. Sustainability awards are chosen on the basis of contributions to the city’s green development and efforts in China’s poverty alleviation.
Evonik Industries AG, the second-largest chemicals company in Germany and one of the world’s largest speciality chemicals companies, was an innovation award winner.
The company recycles tyres as rubber asphalt for roads. The technology was used by the Shanghai Chemical Park in an expansion project due to finish by the end of the year.
Roads paved with rubber asphalt are sturdier than normal asphalt roads that need repairs within five years. Besides being more environmentally friendly, roads paved with rubber asphalt ensure a more comfortable driving and riding experience.
Sonova (Shanghai) Co Ltd was another innovation award winner for its innovative Phonak Roger technology for autism, which helps to relieve listening difficulties in noise and improve academic performance in children with autism spectrum disorder.
Clinical verification and practice in cooperation with Shanghai Jiaotong University and East China Normal University has manifested promising results. Clinical guidelines are also under construction out of experience from such implementation.
Michelin, the French tyre manufacturer, won a sustainability award for its launch of a road safety project for parents and children.
Tapestry Inc, formerly Coach Inc, won a sustainability award. The Coach Foundation donated 3.85 million yuan (US$550,000) to support Chinese students, and Wuhan students in particular.
It plans to organize workshops at Wuhan’s Huazhong University of Science and Technology and Shanghai’s Donghua University in January-April next year, providing a platform for communication between students and Coach staff.
“Huazhong University of Science and Technology’s medical school and its affiliated hospitals had made tremendous contributions in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic. We would like to offer our support to students of HUST and Wuhan in the post-pandemic development,” said Yann Bozec, CEO of Tapestry Asia Pacific and Coach China.
Coach is also leveraging its brand influence and design resources to help Chinese designers present their ideas on a larger stage.
“We will continue to work with Chinese universities to provide opportunities and exposure for promising design talent to exchange ideas with our global creative team,” Bozec said.
Coca-Cola China won a sustainability award for its Clean Water Program for Poverty Alleviation which was launched in 2017 to improve water quality for poor village students.
By the end of June, 2020, it had provided water-purifying equipment to 434 schools in poor areas of west China, including Yunnan and Gansu provinces.
“We are glad to receive the award. The program is a perfect demonstration of our ‘WeCare commitment’ in China. Another initiative that worth mentioning is our sustainability initiative ‘World Without Waste.’ We are glad to work with the government, institutions and communities to promote the beverage packaging recycling that contributes to the circular economy,” said Wang Xingrong, general manager of corporate communications of Coca-Cola China.
Zhu Jiajian (left), head of Shanghai Daily, and Hu Yu'ang from the CPC Hongqiao Subdistrict Working Committee, jointly unveil the MNC Liason Station of Local Communities on Legislative Matters of the NPC Standing Committee on Legislative Affairs.
Wednesday also marked the opening of a new venue for the MNC Communications Club. The new venue, the club’s third, is in Changning District.
Since its establishment in 2014, the club has attracted more than 400 multinationals in Shanghai to sign up as members, most of them Fortune Global 500 firms.
The club was co-founded by the Information Office of Shanghai Municipality and Shanghai Daily to broaden the international publicity channel for Shanghai.
Each quarter, the club holds at least one activity for members to enhance communications. Activities cover policy interpretation, a culture salon and public services.
The club was honored by the Changning district government on Wednesday to become the MNC Liason Station of Local Communities on Legislative Matters of the NPC Standing Committee on Legislative Affairs, hoping to hear more suggestions from multinational companies.
Meng Qingyuan, deputy director of Changning District, delivers a speech at the awards ceremony.
"Changning is where the first international residential community was born and it is home to more than 6,000 foreign companies,” said Changning District Deputy Director Meng Qingyuan. "We are happy to share our experience with you on how to well run an international neighborhood while we also expect to learn from multinational companies."
