China’s Private Enterprises Donate Over 400 Million Yuan for Disaster Relief

Credit: Visual China

BEIJING, August 3 (TiPost) – Large private enterprises have announced that they would donate over 400 million yuan to help people affected by record-breaking torrential rains in North China, especially those displaced in Zhouzhou city of Hebei province.

The companies included tech giant Tencent, short-video platform ByteDance, e-commerce giants Alibaba, Jingdong and Pinduoduo, EV makers BYD and Li Auto, and ride-hailing platform DiDi.

As of Thursday, the combined amount of donations announced by large private enterprises for flood control and disaster relief has exceeded 400 million yuan, according to incomplete statistics by Caixin.

China’s capital has recorded its heaviest rainfall in at least 140 years over the past few days, leaving at least 20 people dead and 27 missing. Bordering Beijing’s southern outskirts, Zhuozhou city in Hebei province has been one of the hardest-hit cities in the north of the country, as floodwaters flowed downstream. More than 130,000 people have been impacted and over 8,700 people were dispatched to help with the rescue effort.

On Monday, Zhuozhou’s flood control department declared a state of emergency, and the local government issued statements appealing for emergency support from emergency aid organizations.

Tencent Foundation worked with a number of charitable organizations for the cleanup of silt and sand, environmental restoration, and resettlement of the local residents with the regular disaster relief funds of nearly 7 million yuan, according to China’s tech giant Tencent. On Wednesday, it reinforced flood rescue efforts by donating additional 100 million. At the same time, as many as 150,000 netizens on the Tencent charity platform raised 3.6 million yuan for disaster relief.

TikTok’s owner ByteDance also announced a donation of 100 million yuan through its foundation, saying that it will join hands with public welfare organizations to provide supplies to the severely affected areas such as Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei and Fujian.

ByteDance’s Apps, Toutiao and TikTok, have helped search for the missing people through live broadcasts and other channels, and seven were found as of Wednesday. And the company’s charity platform launched 14 public welfare projects to raise funds for the affected areas.

On Wednesday, Alibaba Foundation announced that it would donate 30 million yuan for disaster relief, followed by JD Group and Pinduoduo. JD added that the first batch of supplies have been sent to the affected areas, and it will ensure the needs of people, especially the elderly, children and the sick, are met.

On the evening of Wednesday, Alibaba’s retail brand RT-Mart donated a truckload of materials from Jinan to Zhuozhou in order to guarantee the food supply of the local disaster relief team. In addition, JD’s 7Fresh stores doubled their stocking quantity of vegetables, meat, water and drinks and the company deployed logistics drones to Zhuozhou to participate in rescue work under the arrangement of the local government.

Ant Group, the fintech affiliate of Alibaba, donated 20 million yuan to Beijing and Hebei through its foundation while NetEase, the leading internet technology company based in China, 5 million yuan in cash and 5 million yuan worth of emergency supplies to Zhuozhou and other storm-flooded areas. Meanwhile, nearly 200,000 pieces of emergency supplies such as flashlights, drinkable water and convenience foods are being sent to the disaster areas, according to the company.

New-energy car companies BYD and Li Auto, and cell phone company Xiaomi are also participating in the relief efforts through direct donations of 20 million to 25 million yuan.

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