China PRNews--European Chamber’s Charity Gala Dinner “Touch an Orphan’s Life” is held on 8th Dec.

Beijing, 8th December 2006. European Union Chamber of Commerce in China’s Charity Gala Dinner “Touch an Orphan’s Life” is held at the Kempinski Hotel today. This is the 6th edition of the Charity Dinner organised in association with the China Charity Federation, Operation Blessing and with the EU-China Managers Association. The Charities that will be supported this year are Operation Blessing, the China Charity Federation, Bethel Foster Home and Braille Without Borders. All of which run dedicated projects to help improve the lives of the orphans in China.

     This year the European Chamber raises over 1.5 million RMB with help from our sponsors, ticket sales and through the raffle. More than 300 guests from over 100 companies attend this dinner.

     This year we have received substantial support from 16 sponsoring/supporting companies and 33 companies who donate valuable prizes for the raffle. We would like to thank all of them for their great contribution. This year the Diamond sponsors are BMW and ClearWorld Energy. Our Platinum sponsor this year is Nokia with Gold being Airbus, Telefonica and France H.C.S Group (China) Ltd.

     About the Beneficiary Organisations

     Operation Blessing runs several projects with the donations it receives from the Charity Dinner. The majority of the money is used to fund essential surgery for orphans, which not only improves their health but also increases their chances of being adopted. Last year 20 orphans received life-saving surgeries and 20 more received life-transforming surgeries. Furthermore, training was provided to 36 caregivers to help them deal with orphans with hearing and speaking difficulties.

     Bethel Foster Home runs several homes for blind orphans on the outskirts of Beijing. Their goal is to care for, educate and train visually impaired orphans to live and work independently in the future.

     Braille Without Borders runs a similar scheme in Tibet where the proportion of blind people is well above the world average. Through this vital training and education these orphans will be able to lead a normal life and integrate into society.

     About the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China

     The European Union Chamber of Commerce in China is the voice of European Business in China. The European Chamber was formed in October 2000 by 51 founding members, with the support of the Delegation of the European Commission in Beijing. Today the European Chamber is proud to represent over 1000 European businesses, from leading European multinationals to SMEs, in seven cities across China.

     The Chamber is built around 22 industry-specific related Working Groups and 9 horizontal Working Groups such as Corporate Social Responsibility, Intellectual Property Rights and Human Resources, bringing together senior executives who engage in strategic discussions ranging from market access to the evolution of the business environment in China. Through regular dialogue with both the Chinese and European government, the Chamber actively focuses on conveying the operational business concerns of European companies to relevant policy makers.