COFCO was named as the Most Responsible Corporate 2010 on the 6th CSR International Forum held in Beijing on 9 Jan 2011, a third win of the same honor.
Mr. Zhang Dongfeng, Assistant President of COFCO, was present for the ceremony on behalf of the group. Mr. Zhang talked about CSR with government officials, experts and the media. He said as China’s largest state-owned grain, food and edible oil company, COFCO will take its social responsibility via execution of a fully integrated value chain strategy. The company will make its development plans according to the needs of national economy and people’s life, devoted to safeguarding food security and safety, serving the purpose of solving problems concerning farmer’s income, rural area development and agriculture (known as San Nong Issue in China), and contribute to sustainable development of not only itself but also its stakeholders.
Taking CSR into businesses’ strategic planning is one of the most important reasons for COFCO to win that honor. The panel said COFCO has made great contributions to deal with San Nong Issue with a new development model: businesses’ leadership + centralized operation on land + modern management + synchronized development in urban and rural areas. It also put tremendous efforts to enhance quality control over sources, production, inspection and supervision process on each link of the chain from field to table, and continuously improved its traceable system to secure food safety. Its success in industrial layout planning, transformation of development model and structure improved the company’s competitiveness and won it a strong stand on domestic and international markets, and therefore safeguard the nation’s food security.
The vote was held under guidance from the Overseas Chinese Affairs Officer of the State Council, Ministry of Commerce and SASAC, co-sponsored by China News Week and China Red Cross. The award aims to encourage Chinese businesses to find out a pragmatic way to take their CSR, and review and present to the public the contributions Chinese businesses have made to the society since the country’s reform and opening.