General Mills Awarded 2009 Outstanding Enterprise for Corporate Social Responsibilities in China

October 9, 2009

In September 2009, General Mills was awarded “Outstanding Enterprise for Corporate Social Responsibilities in China” at the 2nd Corporate Social Responsibility Forum, initiated by six mainstream media under Xinhua News Agency.

Ten well-known companies were honored the award in total and the other nine winners include China Petrochemical Corporation, China Life Insurance Co., Ltd., Perfect (China) Commodity Co., Ltd., Dongfeng Peugeot Citroen Automobile Co., Ltd., Jiangnan Machinery (Group) Co., Ltd., Pepsi China Beverage Co., Ltd., GE China Co., Ltd., and China Mobile Communications Corporation.

It is reported that more and more enterprises have taken charity giving as an important part of corporate social responsibility. In China, donations totaled RMB 107.1 billion in 2008, among which fund raised by enterprises reached RMB 38.8 billion, accounting for 36.2 percent.

Thus, corporate donors have become the major contributors for charity programs. After the voting exclusively on xinhuanet.cn by billions of Chinese internet users and the assessment by the expert committee for nearly three months, the final list was announced at the CSR forum.

Through history, General Mills has worked to be a responsible corporate citizen and committed 5 percent of its pre-tax profits to charity programs around the world.

In fiscal 2009, that amounted to nearly $91 million. In China, General Mills is also actively engaged in philanthropy programs, including education, fresh water supply, disaster relief, environmental protection, care for disadvantaged groups, support for the development of new rural areas, etc.

Major projects like "WanChai Ferry Water Cellars for Mothers", "Häagen-Dazs Love Library", corn farm in Jixi, and mushroom base in Sichuan, have created great social benefit and exerted positive influence on sustainable development.