30 March 2015 – Hong Kong) New World Department Store China Limited (“NWDS” or the “Company”; Hong Kong stock code: 825), one of the largest owners and operators of department stores in Mainland China, was awarded the “Caring Company” logo by The Hong Kong Council of Social Service for the seventh year in 2014/15 for its outstanding performance in caring for the community, employees and the environment. It also won the “Carbon Reduction Certificates” issued by the Hong Kong Productivity Council. 

Launched by The Hong Kong Council of Social Service in 2002, the Caring Company Scheme (“the Scheme”) aims at cultivating good corporate citizenship. It is specifically geared to building strategic partnerships among businesses and non-profit organizations to create a more cohesive society. The Scheme has three adjudication scopes, including “Caring for the Community”, “Caring for the Employees” and “Caring for the Environment”, with a total of 18 criteria. All companies and organizations must fulfill a minimum of two criteria in each scope to be eligible for the logos. 

For caring for the community, to adhere to “giving back to society”, the Company has strived to establish partnership with non-profit organizations, for instance, purchasing gifts from Fu Hong Society in the last few years to support social enterprises and co-organizing volunteer activities with Christian Action and The Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups to give under-resourced children opportunities to experience cake baking and travelling to different parts of Hong Kong. Last year, the Company became the title sponsor of the “NWDS Sowers Action Challenging 12 Hours Charity Marathon 2014” for the first time. Many NWDS staff took the initiatives to participate and volunteer in the marathon, and made a donation of HK$450,000 for poor high school students in Mainland China. With a total of 346.5 service hours, NWDS Hong Kong office was presented the “Hong Kong Community Volunteers (Corporate Member) Certificate of Appreciation” by the Agency for Volunteer Service in 2013. 

For caring for the employees, NWDS firmly believes that employees are invaluable asset to the Company. With the conviction of “nurturing talents with respect, care and trust”, the Company takes the initiatives to implement family-friendly measures, such as the provision of body check allowance, birthday leave, paternity leave, lunch allowance, marriage leave and examination leave. Concurrently, a comprehensive training system was built to provide tailored training programs for staff at different levels, striving to provide an ideal workplace and plentiful development opportunities for employees. 

For caring for the environment, besides organizing many store-level green activities which advocate a green lifestyle, the Company also adopted a number of green measures in its daily operations to reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions. For instance, Hong Kong office launched “Every day is a Low Carbon Day” campaign to encourage employees to turn off unnecessary lights and computer displays during lunch breaks, save paper and reduce printing, and use products with energy efficiency labels. As a result, Hong Kong office successfully reduced carbon emissions by 4% in FY2014 and was awarded the “Carbon Reduction Certificates” in the “Carbon Reduction Certificates Scheme” under the “Hong Kong Awards for Environmental Excellence” organized by the Hong Kong Productivity Council to recognize the Company’s efforts and achievements in caring the environment. 

Ms. Rebecca Woo, Corporate Affairs Director and Chairman of Sustainability Steering Committee of NWDS, said, “Society’s expectations in corporate sustainable contributions keep rising. To live up to it, NWDS has strived to undertake corporate social responsibility by establishing the NWDS Sustainable Steering Committee in 2012 to implement the relevant policies in order to give back to society while pursuing profit. Looking forward, the Company will further the cooperation with non-profit organizations and continue caring for the community with action, so as to bring positive influence to society.” 

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