Ericsson (China) Company Ltd. donated one million yuan (about US121,000) on Monday to a charity program called "China Children's Day" to help school dropouts in western China.
"China Children's Day" is jointly organized by the All-China Women's Federation and the China Children and Teenagers Fund (CCTF).
Ericsson is the first foreign company in China to donate money to the program.
"Ericsson and our staff are proud to do something for those children who face difficulties in going to school. They have the right to receive education. We cannot stand by and watch them leave school because of poverty. We need to take action to help create their hopes for the future," Ericsson (China) Chief Marketing Officer and Executive Vice President Zhang Xingsheng said at the donation ceremony held at the Great Hall of the People.
He called on other foreign businesses in Beijing to show their care and concern for children in poor areas of western China.
Sources with the CCTF said that the program, which ends on June22, had received support from more than 60 cities in China since it began in February this year, and donations to date had reached 22.8 million yuan (about US$2.8 million).
According to the CCTF, all the money donated will be used to help school dropouts in poor areas in western China, estimated tonumber around 2 million.
(Xinhua News Agency May 27, 2002)
