Great disasters bring great love, the China Chamber of Commerce is taking action!

China General Chamber of Commerce and Some Associations, Public Institutions and Individuals
First Batch of Donations Reached One Million

Departments, branches, managed associations, public institutions, and individual employees of the China General Chamber of Commerce actively donated to the Sichuan earthquake disaster area. According to incomplete statistics, as of May 21, the China General Chamber of Commerce and some managed associations, public institutions, and individuals donated a total of 993,140 yuan to the disaster area.

Units and individual employees who donated through the China General Chamber of Commerce to the Red Cross Society of China and the China Charity Federation include: 11 departments of the China General Chamber of Commerce, the Foreign Liaison Committee, the Jewelry Committee, the Bathing Professional Committee, the Laundry Professional Committee, the Commodity Trading Market Professional Committee, the Retail Supplier Professional Committee and other branches; affiliated units such as China Business Newspaper, China Commercial Press, Food Circulation Development Center, Commercial Development Center, Commercial Science and Technology Quality Center, Commercial Outlet Construction and Development Center, China Trade Magazine (Expert Working Committee), All-China Commercial Information Center, Commercial Credit Center, China Council for the Promotion of International Trade Commercial Industry Branch and other public institutions; managed associations such as China Five-Commodity Commercial Association (China Household Appliances Commercial Association), China Condiment Association, National Urban Agricultural Trade Center Federation, China Urban Commercial Outlet Construction and Management Federation, China Commercial Economics Society, China Warehousing Association, National Commercial Fire Protection Association, China Vegetable Circulation Association, China Small and Medium Commercial Enterprises Association, China Chain Store Association, China Hairdressing and Beauty Association, China Meat Association; vice president units such as Zhongshang United Petroleum Trade Co., Ltd., Huaxia Jingu Guarantee Co., Ltd., Beijing Century Yinghua Commercial Management Consulting Co., Ltd.

In this disaster relief donation campaign, the China General Chamber of Commerce and leaders of various units took the lead, and the majority of Communist Party members and employees responded actively and acted quickly. Within just a few days, a wave of love and support for the suffering compatriots and earthquake disaster areas was rapidly raised. Many party members and employees not only actively donated at their workplaces but also participated in donations organized by streets, communities, and related institutions; some comrades who missed the unified donation date of the China General Chamber of Commerce due to business trips proactively contacted the Red Cross Society and Charity Federation to donate on their own (donation amounts in this regard have not yet been counted); Communist Youth League members donated not only with their units but also responded to the call of the China General Chamber of Commerce Youth Committee to donate in the name of youth organizations. Many comrades also actively signed up and inquired about blood donation, ready to donate their blood to disaster area compatriots at any time. More units and employees are donating food, drinking water, clothing, and offering the love of chambers of commerce, associations, and staff in various forms.
                                 

The China General Chamber of Commerce and its member units fully support earthquake relief efforts.

In recent days, all departments, branches, professional associations, public institutions of the China General Chamber of Commerce, as well as local chambers of commerce and member enterprises, united as one, with firm determination, actively responding to the call of the Party Central Committee and the State Council, mobilizing the whole country to support compatriots in the earthquake disaster area in earthquake relief and rebuilding their homes. Units not only donated money, goods, and blood in the name of their units and organized employees but also leveraged their industry and work characteristics, utilizing their strengths and resources to fully support the disaster area people in earthquake relief, providing relief supplies, daily necessities, and various services.

The China General Chamber of Commerce designated relevant departments to closely monitor disaster area and national market information, providing and dispatching high-quality, low-priced relief supplies, emergency items, and daily necessities to commercial enterprises in the disaster area, especially to prevent market shortages, stockouts, and price gouging in the disaster area. The China General Chamber of Commerce decided to hold a special meeting during the 2008 China Retailers Conference in Hangzhou one month after the disaster (June 12), gathering commercial colleagues and related industry resources to discuss the responsibilities and operational processes of retailers during disaster response and post-disaster reconstruction. By improving emergency management quality and operational process performance in retail, it aims to address related issues that may arise after the disaster and assist in the recovery and reconstruction work in the disaster area. On May 16, the National Restaurant and Hotel Rating Committee (office located in the China General Chamber of Commerce) donated 50,000 yuan to purchase rice, cooking oil, and vegetables, entrusting hotels and restaurants in Sichuan, Chongqing, and other places to provide free meals in the disaster area.

The China Culinary Association, together with the Chinese Institute of Food Science and Technology, organized catering and food production enterprises to donate to the disaster area, raising 2,200 boxes of instant noodles, 700 boxes of mineral water, infant formula, baby rice flour, and other food worth 100,000 yuan, which have been sent to the disaster area with the first relief material train from Beijing. After the Culinary Association issued an urgent appeal on May 21 to support disaster area catering enterprises to resume production and provide services as soon as possible, Beijing organized a catering disaster relief team. Seventeen member enterprises of the Beijing Culinary Association dispatched 100 chefs, carrying 2 million yuan in funds and 600,000 yuan in materials and supplies, who departed on May 24 to provide meal services in disaster areas such as Dujiangyan and Pengzhou in Sichuan, receiving warm welcome locally.

The China Hotel Association initiated the "One Yuan per Room, One Yuan per Table" "One Yuan Action" charity donation campaign in the national accommodation and catering industry, which caused a great response and was reported by media such as CCTV and Xinhua News Agency. The association also plans to provide free training for disaster area residents and organize introductions for young people from the disaster area to work in catering enterprises in coastal areas.

The China Textile Commerce Association and China Department Store Commerce Association have organized members to donate and provide large quantities of gloves, safety helmets, anti-slip shoes, and other labor protection supplies to the disaster area for urgent disaster relief and rescue.

In response to damage to slaughtering and processing equipment and cold storage facilities in the disaster area caused by the earthquake, the China Meat Association and the Chinese Society of Refrigeration will organize professional technicians to go to the disaster area to help inspect cold storage, prevent liquid ammonia leaks, environmental pollution, and personal safety hazards.

The China Household Appliance Repair Association issued an "Appeal on Carrying out Sales and Repair Services of Electronic and Electrical Products in the Sichuan Earthquake Disaster Area" on May 27, requesting member units and related units to transport urgently needed electronic and electrical products such as radios, television receivers, mobile phones, computers, and electric fans to the disaster area, promptly carry out electronic and electrical product testing, maintain and repair electronic and electrical products, and restore electronic and electrical product repair business in a timely manner. Member enterprise Gree Group dispatched 4,000 technicians to the disaster area to inspect household air conditioners to prevent quality and safety accidents caused by the disaster. The association has arranged for member enterprises to increase recruitment of air conditioner installation migrant workers in the disaster area during the peak installation season, providing training before employment to increase local residents' income.

The National Urban Agricultural Trade Center Federation and China Vegetable Circulation Association issued notices and appeals to member units on May 14 and 15 respectively, helping vegetable wholesale markets and distribution enterprises in the disaster area to expedite the transportation of vegetables, agricultural and sideline products, and food, resolutely preventing and strictly prohibiting price gouging and market disorder, reducing market fees for affected distributors, and contributing to disaster relief and market supply security.

The China Hairdressing and Beauty Association organized a disaster relief charity performance for the hairdressing and beauty industry on May 15, raising 336,900 yuan in donations. It has donated 3,000 sets of hairdressing tools to the disaster area for urgent hairdressing needs, and will organize member companies to provide free hairdressing services to the public and rescue teams in the disaster area when conditions permit. The China Commercial Federation's Laundry and Dyeing Professional Committee and Bathing Professional Committee have arranged or are preparing to organize member companies to provide related laundry, bathing, and other living services in the disaster area.

With the advancement of post-disaster reconstruction work, the restoration and construction of commercial outlets in the disaster area will also be put on the work agenda. The China Urban Commercial Outlets Construction and Management Federation has made arrangements to organize capable commercial enterprises to enter the disaster area nearby for outlet planning and construction, adopting a combination of mobile and fixed outlets to assist in the reconstruction of commercial outlets and facilitate the lives of people in the disaster area.

      
All member units respond urgently to the needs of the disaster area and think from the perspective of the disaster area. While donating money and goods, they are fully engaged in earthquake relief work in various forms. Member enterprises of the China Chain Store & Franchise Association—Sichuan Mutual Benefit Commercial, Hongqi Supermarket, and Chongqing Dezhuang Group—rushed to the disaster relief overnight, quickly purchasing large quantities of grain, oil, vegetables, and meat to provide free meals for soldiers, medical staff, and disaster victims on the front line of relief, and to provide all possible living services to the disaster victims. More than 200 member enterprises of the Beijing Commercial Federation actively participated in charity sales activities, donating the proceeds to the disaster area. Member enterprise of the China Department Store Association—Xinhua Department Store—donated 10% of the sales revenue from the first 10 days before June 1 to the children in the disaster area for rebuilding schools. The vice president unit of the China National Trade Promotion Association—Guangxi Wuzhou Zhongheng Group—donated Chinese medicated wine, glucose syrup, and cold and cough medicines to the front line of disaster relief in Sichuan. The vice president unit of the China Commercial Federation—China Huafu Trade Development Group's Huashang Reserve Commodity Management Center—executed the Ministry of Commerce's regulatory deployment by allocating 290 tons of central reserve frozen pork from Shanghai to the Gansu disaster area market. The vice president unit of the Guangdong Commercial Federation—Guangbai Group—held a large-scale charity sale event "Guangbai Earthquake Relief Heart to Heart" with 100,000 participants, donating a total of 3.52 million yuan in funds and goods, and organized a convoy to send 300 tents and 1,800 quilts to Chengdu.