The Bank of China has formally released its 2008 corporate social responsibility report.
The report shows that BOC and its employees donated more than CNY150 million to earthquake affected areas in Sichuan, of which CNY78.83 million was donated by employees of BOC branches in China, HKD13.86 million was donated by BOC Hong Kong via the Hong Kong Red Cross Society and the remaining CNY11.61 million by BOC overseas branches and their employees.
The report says that BOC made total donations of CNY138 million in 2008. Meanwhile, it continued its commitment to education and by the end of the year, it had had a study-aid loan balance of CNY10.877 billion and ranked top of all China's domestic banks. It also provided supporting funds to nearly 920,000 students to finish their studies during the year.
According to the report, BOC launched green channels for donations in more than 10,000 of its business outlets after the devastating earthquake, setting up special service counters and donation accounts and providing free remittance services for donors. In addition, it set up a number of temporary banks in tents or cars to meet the demand for financial services in the earthquake areas as well as offering green credit channels for the disaster relief.
The report states that during 2008 Beijing Olympic Games and Paralympic Games, BOC achieved a zero mistake and zero client complaint target as the only banking partner of the events and this won it wide acclaim from the public. During the global financial crisis, it actively carried out the government's economic policy and helped SMEs to get through their difficulties.
Meanwhile, BOC also focused the needs of its key stakeholders, its clients, its employees, and the environment and took effective measures to push forward its social responsibility practice.
