Moutai continues fight against poverty

Beverage giant will donate 300m yuan in the next three years to help poor students

A major baijiu beverage brand will pump 300 million yuan ($44 million) into fighting poverty in China in the next three years.

Last week, Kweichou Moutai Co Ltd and the China Youth Development Foundation confirmed they will continue their charity project until 2020 to help rural regions in China.

The partnership goes back to 2012 when the government called for companies to help finance adequate educational resources for children from poverty-stricken areas.

"There are now only three years left to achieve the government's goal of poverty alleviation in rural areas," said Yuan Renguo, president of Moutai, during a Press conference.

Moutai has promised to donate 100 million yuan for three consecutive years to assist 60,000 students from poor families nationwide.

The plan is to help these children achieve their dreams of going to college and finally break through the poverty trap.

In addition, Moutai will provide 1,000 internships to students each year through its subsidiaries and dealers.

The beverage giant has agreed to pay monthly salaries, and will also help the interns sharpen their professional and social skills.

During the next three years, Moutai will recommend 100 outstanding students annually to work in its subsidiaries, dealers and other partners.

This in turn will help promote the "poverty alleviation" process throughout the country.

"We need to go hand in hand to contribute to the nation's prosperity and revival," Yuan said.

Since 2012, Moutai has donated more than 500 million yuan to charity projects involving over 102,000 students from poor families across China.

The money has helped them attend colleges, while the project has covered 1,600 counties across the country, making it one of the most influential charities here.

By now, the first batch of university students that were sponsored by Moutai have already graduated from university and have rewarding jobs.

"The charity project aims to get rid of poverty in rural areas through the power of education," said Wang Jian, director of the China Youth Development Foundation. "For five years, the project has provided effective solutions.

"It sends students to universities without having them worry about financial problems," Wang added.

Moutai also takes part in other public welfare programs.

From 2014, it has donated 50 million yuan every year to protect the ecological environment along the Chishui River in Guizhou's Zunyi city. It also gave 100 million yuan in ten years to build the Confucius Institute in Guiyang, Guizhou province. 

Since the beginning of the 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-15), Moutai has been involved in supporting local economic development.

As for its business operations, the group reported sales revenues of 50.24 billion yuan last year with profits of 25.11 billion yuan.

Contact the writers at zhengyiran@chinadaily.com.cn and yangjun@chinadaily.com.cn