| Quake Response: SOEs Lead the Way with Rapid Response and Disaster Relief |
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| 2009-05-13 16:39 CSR in China, China WTO Tribune |
At 14:28 on May 12th, 2008, an earthquake measuring 8.0 on the Richter scale struck Wenchuan county, Sichuan province. This was an amazingly destructive earthquake, causing widespread damage and creating enormous difficulties to relief efforts on a scale not witnessed for decades. The earthquake affected 16 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities including Sichuan, Gansu, Shanxi, Chongqing, 417 counties, 4,624 townships, 46,574 villages and resulting in a total disaster area of 440,000 km². Millions of houses collapsed and many millions more were severely damaged. As of 9th June, the earthquake had killed 69,142 people and injured 374,065. 17,551 were reported missing, and the total number of affected people was over 46 million.
The earthquake not only caused huge loss of life and property, but also impacted on the operations of many large State-owned Enterprises (SOEs). There are three SOEs whose headquarters are based in Sichuan, and more than 80 SOEs with branches or units located in Sichuan. More than 3,000 SOEs workers and their family members were severely affected by the earthquake disaster, with direct property loss over RMB 380 billion.
The CPC Central Committee and State Council attached great importance to the earthquake disaster, and held a series of emergency meetings to deploy earthquake relief action. Leaders of the Party personally visited disaster scenes at which Party members and People’s Liberation Army (PLA) bravely worked on rescue efforts. This disaster showed SOEs have a strong sense of social responsibility and were determined to demonstrate their roles in providing disaster relief.
Strenuous efforts to rescue every last trapped person
After the disaster, subsidiaries and branch offices of 20 SOEs around the disaster areas worked closely with the command of the State Council and took emergency measures to mobilize specialist rescue equipments including 936 sets of forklifts, cranes, and other such engineering equipment. For example, the Third Highway Project Bureau of China Communication Construction Group arrived at Juyuan Secondary School in Dujiangyan to carry out the rescue within an hour of the earthquake, rescuing 37 people before the arrival of the PLA. The earthquake caused numerous casualties in China Eastern Electric Corporation and many family members of workers and students were buried in the rubble. Companies such as China National Erzhong Group Co., the Second Bureau under China Railway Engineering Group Ltd., Chengdu Aircraft Industrial Group Ltd., China Metallurgical Group Corporation and other SOEs in the region immediately dispatched rescue teams. They helped to rescue many of the thousands of people trapped in the China National Chemical Corporation Qingping phosphate mine. It is estimated that SOEs' rescue teams rescued more than 4,000 people from the rubble.
Medical relief was essential to reduce casualties and prevent epidemics. SOEs were actively to provid medical relief teams and equipment too. The State Grid Corporation of China (SGCC) of formed a "State Grid Corporation Earthquake Relief Team," which consisted of 185 medical technology specialists, 14 medical vehicles and essential medical equipment from hospitals across China (including Sichuan, Beijing, Shandong, Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Jilin, Tianjin and Liaoning). The team rushed to the disaster areas and they rescued and treated a total of 1,526 people. Over 21,000 people were involved in epidemic prevention, home visiting and health education. Panzhihua Iron and Steel Group mobilized 50 people from the General Hospital and deployed them to the most devastated areas. Companies such as Baoshan Iron and Steel Group, Harbin Power Plant Equipment Group, Xi'an Power Machinery Manufacturing Corporation and China Liaohe Oilfield all selected core medical specialists to form medical rescue teams to participate in medical relief work.
Repairing communication and information lines
In order to ensure communications in disaster areas, state-owned communications enterprises raced against time to repair damaged facilities. Companies such as China Mobile Communications Group Corporation, China Telecom, China Unicom Ltd., China Network Communications Group Corporation, China Satellite Communications Corporation and China Railcom Group Co. Ltd., sent an emergency team of 3.5 million people, and provided specialist equipment including 1,830 emergency satellite phones, over 2,200 diesel generators, and more than 150 emergency communications vehicles for disaster areas, to restore communication capacity. China Satellite Communications Corporation sent 350 satellite phones to the disaster zone and staff made long and difficult journeys to reach the most remote, affected areas. China Mobile Communications Group Corporation, China United Telecommunications Co. Ltd., and other enterprises also assisted the Government in providing timely information on disaster forecasting, disaster relief work, and the situation on the ground using SMS, MMS, community radio and mobile newspapers. By May 30th, all counties in Sichuan disaster areas had resumed normal communications. The Institute of Telecommunications Science and Technology, Alcatel Shanghai Bell Co. Ltd., Wuhan Institute of Science and Technology and other telecommunications equipment suppliers also worked overtime and made every effort to meet the demands for communication equipments.
Going the extra distance to repair power grids
With a large number of power facilities badly damaged, SGCC galvanized personnel and deployed teams and equipment to ensure a power supply for rescue teams, hospitals and other important uses as well as electricity for people affected by the disaster. SGCC mobilized generators, power distribution transformers, and all kinds of insulators and other equipments and material, and organized a professional team of more than 2,800 people to urgently repair power grids, as well as mobilising 950 generators (vehicles) and more than 200 vehicles to repair power grids. By June 5th, the majority of transformer substations in Sichuan Province had been completely restored providing electricity to almost two million users in Sichuan province.
Repairing transportation hubs: the lines of life
State-owned construction enterprises played a positive role in ensuring traffic flowed. The China State Construction Engineering Corporation, China Railway Engineering Corporation, China Railway Construction Corporation, China Water Conservancy and Hydropower Construction Group Corporation, China Metallurgical Group Corporation and other construction corporations sent repair teams thousands-strong to repair the seriously damaged main and branch railway lines, highways, mobilising more than 2,000 types of mechanical equipments to carry out rescue work against the clock. State-owned construction enterprises struggled continuously, and opened a 380km "life channel", including the main highways between Wenchuan and Maoxian, the Mauhei road, the Jiuhuan road and others, and restored a number of damaged highways. Amazingly the 8th Bureau of China Railway Engineering Corporation took only 15 hours to completely repair the "life channel" from Mianyang to the most damaged part of the Hanwang-Detian Railway Line. Repairs to the Bao-Cheng Railway Beetles Rock Bridge and Detian Railway Friendship Bridge was also done very quickly. Rescue teams from China Railway Engineering Corporation and China Railway Construction Corporation battled for more than 10 days and nights to repair the No. 109 tunnel of Baocheng railway.
Getting transport up and running again
With roads blocked, air transport was the only viable transportation option just after the earthquake. Companies such as China National Aviation, China Eastern Airlines and China Southern Airlines delivered relief supplies and the rescue personnel where needed irrespective of cost, supporting disaster relief efforts. As of June 9th, the three state-owned air transport companies had flown over 1,500 missions, delivered 35,000 PLA officers and soldiers, fire-fighters, medical and rescue personnel, and 8,400 tons of relief supplies. The China National Offshore Oil Corporation mobilised 14 leased-helicopters from the 27 helicopters in offshore fields for rescue work in disaster areas. China Ocean Shipping (Group) Company, China Shipping, China Yangtze River Shipping and other transportation companies did their utmost to help and actively provided earthquake relief transportation.
Working overtime to ensure supplies reached disaster areas
After the disaster SOEs specializing in the manufacture of food, medicine, light industry, chemicals, building stuffs, petroleum and petrochemicals worked overtime to organize production and ensure provision of urgent supplies to disaster areas. Companies such as China Grain Reserve Management, COFCO Limited, China Salt Industry and China Huafu Trade Development processed and transported rice, grains, wheat, salt, preserved meat, sugar and cooking oil to support disaster areas. China Pharmaceutical Group Corporation, China Biotechnology Company, and other pharmaceutical companies provided emergency first aid equipment including breathing machines, cardiac monitors, surgical instruments, infusion, iodine and other badly needed medical equipment.
China Agricultural Development Corporation actively organized the production of animal vaccines. Emerging Cast Pipe Group Co. Ltd., China National Chemical Corporation, China Building Materials Group Corporation, Anshan Iron & Steel Group, Baosteel Group Co. Ltd., Wuhan Iron and Steel (Group) Company and other light industry, chemicals, building material, iron and steel production enterprises worked overtime day and night to produce first-aid kits, masks, camp-beds, stretchers, cooking cars, quilts, mosquito nets, mobile houses and other urgently needed supplies to help the disaster areas as soon as possible to reconstruction. China National Petroleum Corporation and China Petrochemical Corporation adopted a variety of measures to organize transportation of oil and petrol to disaster areas. China Aviation Oil Corporation also did a good job in supplying jet fuel to disaster areas.
Love and dedication through financial and material contributions
In addition to donating personnel, the total of SOEs' contributions amounted to more than RMB 3.2 billion. On May 27th, on behalf of SOEs, the SASAC contributed RMB 3.5336 billion through the China Red Cross Foundation, which was the largest donation the Chinese Red Cross Foundation received after the earthquake, and will be used to build 100 new schools and 100 rural health centers in disaster areas. In addition to the RMB 6,500 million already contributed, China National Offshore Oil Corporation has pledged RMB 100 million annually for reconstruction during the next five years. This sum will be met through improving efficiency in its own operations.
Responding to the earthquake disaster, SOEs have passed a severe test. They have proved through their actions that in times of great need, when the state and society have suffered a terrible disaster, SOEs can step in and deal with the urgency of the situation, regardless of difficulty or cost. Their important contributions to safeguard national economic security and social stability are excellent examples of corporate social responsibility.
(CSR in China, China WTO Tribune)
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