(13 Mar 2018 – 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, is pleased to announce the stellar achievements it made in the 2017 annual and sustainability reports. The two reports took the third and the fifth place in the “Top 100 Reports Worldwide” ranking of the LACP 2016/17 Vision Awards Annual Report Competition respectively, which marked the highest rank they ever achieved over the years. The annual report garnered the Platinum Award for the “Retailing - Multi-line Retail” category and the “Best Agency Report Worldwide” award. The sustainability report, on the other hand, was honoured with the titles of the Platinum Award for the “Retailing - Multi-line Retail” category and the “Most Creative Report” award. On top of the above competition, the Company’s 2017 annual report also won the Honors Award for “Annual Reports - Cover Design: Abstract/Graphics” category in the Mercury Excellence Awards 2017/2018. All these accolades have proved that the Company’s corporate communication work has been further enhanced to meet industry standards.

The Company began an all-round business and management reform in 2017; it has strived for innovation in every aspect and optimized its operations and management to create a more vibrant atmosphere for corporate development. Similarly, the annual and sustainability reports have upkept the innovative spirit and adopted a novel and exquisite design style to be in line with the Company’s development. The annual report, for example, carries the theme of “Enchanting Innovation” and uses the kaleidoscope as the central subject of its cover design, which is fused with graphics of various merchandise. The techniques of silver stamping and four-colour overprinting are employed to reflect an enchanting spectrum of colours and to demonstrate the characteristics of the vibrant and ever-changing retail business nature of the Company. Layout of the inner pages also captured the myriad of shapes and changes one expects to see from a kaleidoscope – these are scattered onto different positions of the page to bring out a sense of space and to act as visual markers to guide readers’ attention, so as to enhance the report’s readability and to reinforce the Company’s image as a consumer-centric retail operator which dares to innovate to excel. The inside back cover, on the other hand, is a design packed with originality, from which readers could enjoy a playful origami project, which fully demonstrates the Company’s devotion to actively promote innovation and reform, as well as to craft excellent experiences for its stakeholders at large.

The Company’s 2017 sustainability report was themed around “Collecting Caring Hearts”. Through vivid and delightful cartoons and characters, the story of a team of adventurers – which symbolises company staff – overcoming obstacles along their sustainability journey is told. The team collects caring hearts along their way and eventually discovers a treasure. The story reflects how the Company has been caring for its staff, its operations, its supply chain, as well as the community and the environment. With the use of reader-friendly writing, concise and clear infographics and data tables, the report lays out the progress and outcome of the Company’s work in an in-depth yet easy-to-understand manner. Complemented with a cover with a registered embossing effect for a distinctive bas-relief texture and creative illustrations that echo with the texts, the creativity and fun of the report is strengthened, which effectively enhances the reading experience. Both reports are printed with Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)-certified paper and soy ink to minimize the environmental impact and to uphold the Company’s sustainability beliefs.

The two above-mentioned reports are important materials that help stakeholders understand the latest happenings and development of the Company. To ensure that stakeholders can obtain information about the Company in a more timely and comprehensive manner, the Company will continue to strive for excellence in the compilation of these reports. The Company will keep enhancing the contents and design quality of the reports, such that they could report the Company’s business and non-business development with even more professionalism, clarity, precision and organization. The Company will also uphold its creativity to create an even better experience for stakeholders.

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