Toyota Motor Corporation organized a team of about 100 people, including volunteers from both Toyota affiliates in China and from TMC in Japan, to take part this past weekend in a tree-planting effort in China aimed at combating desertification.

The event, which took place in the Fengning Man Autonomous County of China's Hebei Province (about 180 kilometers north of Beijing), was part of the Sino-Japanese Joint "21st Century Greater Beijing Reforestation Model" Initiative established in April 2001 by the Chinese Academy of Sciences' China-Japan Scientific Technology & Economic Exchange Association, the Hebei Province Forestry Bureau, the Tokyo-based NPO Green Earth Center and TMC to combat desertification in China.

TMC Executive Vice President Mitsuo Kinoshita, who was among the 20 volunteers from TMC, said in a kickoff speech that the undertaking would contribute to improving China's environment, as well as serve as a means of interaction between TMC employees in Japan and China.

"It is my hope that the bonds of friendship between Chinese and Japanese employees will deepen, their volunteer spirit will be enriched and that each sapling planted in China's soil will take root and help to improve the environment," Kinoshita said.

Since its inception, the 21st Century Greater Beijing Reforestation Model has supported both the livelihood of local citizens and environmental protection through environmental restoration monitoring, medical plant and fruit tree cultivation, pasture management and other activities.

Although volunteers from the NPO Green Earth Center and TMC's affiliated companies in China have carried out reforestation efforts every year, this was the first time for volunteers to travel from TMC in Japan to take part.

Toyota has for some time now been broadening the scope of its philanthropic activities throughout the world. In China, these activities include the Toyota Environmental Protection Aid Program for China's Youth and the creation of a research center in collaboration with Tsinghua University. Toyota aims to be a good corporate citizen and plans to continue contributing to Chinese society, through activities that focus on the themes of environmental protection, traffic safety and human resources development.

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