Bayer Group, together with the Beijing Fuping Development Institute, hosted a Bayer Cares Project – Employee Volunteer Program Seminar in Jiangyou, Sichuan province on February 27, 2009. The seminar was aimed at driving innovative and sustainable CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) initiatives among domestic and international companies operating in China by sharing Bayer’s year-long volunteer assistance program in Sichuan following the disasterous May 2008 earthquake. At the seminar, representatives from the Central Committee of the Communist Youth League of China, officials from Sichuan and Jiangyou municipal government, local enterprises, Bayer and other domestic and international companies and organizations shared their perspectives around the topic of “CSR needed for post-quake reconstruction.”

The Employee Volunteer Program embodies a new volunteer service model which is ‘government-NGO-enterprise’, that is, led by government, coordinated by NGO and supported enterprise.  To date, Bayer volunteers across the country spent more than 17,000 hours helping families affected by the earthquake, visiting and comforting senior citizens, giving English coaching to children and building community libraries. They have been recognized by the Jiangyou municipal government for their efforts to provide a better livelihood for the people affected by the disaster.

Mr. Michael Koenig, President of Bayer Greater China said: “It is important to learn about the real needs of these people, and leverage companies’ consolidated expertise to provide long term and effective support to the community’s sustainable development.” Companies that attended the seminar agreed that CSR should be in line with their core competences and development strategy.

Bayer is developing a case study for the Employee Volunteer Program and aims to share the innovative CSR approach and valuable learning with more corporate citizens in China.
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Bayer: Science for a Better Life
Bayer is a global enterprise with core competencies in the fields of health care, nutrition and high-tech materials. The company’s products and services are designed to benefit people and improve their quality of life. At the same time Bayer creates value through innovation, growth and improved earning power. The Group is committed to the principles of sustainable development and acknowledges and accepts its role as a socially and ethically responsible “corporate citizen”. Economy, ecology and social responsibility are corporate policy objectives of equal rank. In fiscal 2007, Bayer employed 106,000 people and had sales of around EUR32.4 billion.

Bayer’s links with China go back to 1882. Bayer is today represented in the Greater China region (PR China, Hong Kong, Taiwan) by 23 companies across the group, including the subgroups Bayer HealthCare, Bayer CropScience ,Bayer MaterialScience as well as the service company Bayer Technology Services. In fiscal 2007, Bayer Great China employs about 6,500 people and achieved sales of around EUR 1.8 billion.

More information is available on the Internet as follows:
Bayer Global website：www.bayer.com
Bayer China website：www.bayer.com.cn
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