http://www.bjreview.com FEBRUARY 13, 2020 BEIJING REVIEW 35
Copyedited by Sudeshna Sarkar
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Development Foundation which launched
Project Hope, and a Beijing-based children’s
theatrical group to promote children’s plays
in the primary schools it has funded. The
students themselves take part in the plays
that highlight local stories and initiatives.
Spring Lily performed in Beijing, Shanghai
and Guangzhou in south China in 2016 to
mark the 20th anniversary of P&G’s involve-
ment in Project Hope, for instance, narrated
the inspiring story of three sisters in Hunan
Province in central China. The trio helped
their parents sell lilies, a local specialty, online
with the help of volunteers to change their
destiny.
Challenges for samaritans
Foreign companies such as Apple and
Starbucks have been working with the
China Foundation for Poverty Alleviation
(CFPA), a nongovernmental charity orga-
nization, to establish education industries
and healthcare projects nationwide. Zheng
Wenkai, chairman of the foundation, said
nearly 700,000 people have benefited so
far. The projects help increase people’s in-
comes so that they can rise out of poverty
and can be replicated in other areas.
The CFPA and CAEFI have also es-
tablished a platform to facilitate foreign
enterprises’ participation in poverty allevia-
tion by increasing exchanges and sharing
poverty alleviation experiences.
However, the foreign-invested compa-
nies’ work is hampered by several factors.
On December 19, 2019, CAEFI released
the Report on Anti-Poverty Action by
Enterprises With Foreign Investment based
on 42 cases of poverty alleviation by for-
eign companies. The report was authored
by Deng Guosheng, Deputy Director of the
School of Public Policy and Management
of Tsinghua University. It said monetary
donations are not a popular poverty allevia-
tion model with foreign companies. They
mostly prefer to implement educationalprojects, followed by programs to develop
industries, healthcare and infrastructure.
Improving drinking water safety and pro-
moting culture are also their favorite ways
of poverty alleviation, and so is organizing
volunteers to carry out poverty-alleviation
programs in poor areas.
Foreign companies’ main motivation for
participating in poverty alleviation is their
CSR awareness and response to government
policies. However, while undertaking poverty
alleviation projects, these companies often
face staff and capital shortages, as well as
lack of experience and channels for poverty
alleviation.
Deng said foreign-invested companies
are becoming a new force in the cause. And
they hope the government and industry
associations can build more platforms and
channels for them to participate better.QStudents of the Hunan Longshan P&G Project Hope School in Hunan Province perform Spring Lily at the National Center for the Performing Arts in Beijing in August 2018
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