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OpportunitiesNews of China-Related Educational, Cultural, and Charitable ProjectsOpportunities introduces significant charitable, cultural, and educational projects that seek American business support and aims to assist companies in identifying programs meriting their assistance. The materials contained in Opportunities are boiled down; our goal is to provide contact information and only the most skeletal description of each organization's interests. I strongly encourage interested companies to make direct contact with the programs contained here, so that each firm can review for itself the more-detailed materials that individual organizations can provide. The importance of American corporate participation in programs that bring benefit to the people of China and strengthen the bonds of US-China friendship beyond the commercial realm cannot be overstated. We congratulate the many American firms that support a wide range of important and positive efforts in China and hope that Opportunities will help companies to explore new ways of making a difference. Robert A. Kapp (Note: The purpose of Opportunities is to facilitate direct contact between interested companies and project developers. The US-China Business Council is not a sponsor of any project listed in Opportunities and makes no recommendation with regard to corporate assistance to any specific project.)
With the endorsement of the PRC Ministry of Education, AFS has cooperated with CEAIE for more than 20 years in facilitating exchanges at the secondary school level for teachers and students from almost every province in China. Since 2001, high school students from other countries have been able to spend a year in China. All participants are hosted in families and attend local schools. To further build capacity in China and to ensure that students from rural and remote areas are able to take part, AFS seeks corporate sponsorship. Companies may also offer AFS scholarships to the children of their employees as a direct employee benefit. AFS (formerly American Field Service) is an international, nonprofit, educational organization, exchanging more than 10,000 students, young adults, and teachers among more than 50 countries each year. Since 1947, more than 300,000 individuals and an equal number of host families have had an AFS experience.
FFI, the world's oldest conservation organization dedicated to saving threatened species and ecosystems, has been asked by China's SEPA to help build capacity to incorporate considerations of biodiversity in the environmental impact assessment (EIA) process. The EIA process in China has recently been strengthened by a new national law. Since the Great Western Development Strategy was launched in 1999, the need for safeguards to protect China's rare and endangered species and fragile ecosystems has become acute, as new infrastructure projects and extractive industries have opened up once-remote regions and damaged nature reserves. In planning for sustainable development, China can benefit from international experience in biological surveys and ecological assessment. With support from Shell-China, FFI is leading the way by designing training for the Chinese teams that carry out field-level surveys and analysis for EIAs.
Since 1999, FFI has been working together with local nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in Qinghai Province to protect the wildlife of the Tibetan Plateau. The Upper Yangzi Organization was founded by Tibetan nomadic herders to promote environmental protection and conservation in their grassland home in Suojia, near the source of the Yangzi River. In 2003, this area was included in the new Three Great Rivers Source National Nature Reserve. The project is currently focusing on putting protection in place for the snow leopard and Tibetan antelope through two community-managed local protected areas. Other projects include plans for environmental education and research on environmentally sustainable means to improve the living standards of the nomads. FFI is also working to help other Tibetan NGOs build their capacity for this kind of work.
This 10-part television series seeks to illuminate a continent about which many Americans know little. "Wanderlust: Asia Revealed" is a fascinating journey through the following nine countries: China (2 episodes), Cambodia, India, Malaysia, Mongolia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam, and Japan. The goal of the series is to increase viewers' understanding of the diverse history and culture of the region, as well as its growing importance to the world economy. The series will be produced by HuskyTV LLC, which has produced numerous television programs from a variety of locations in Asia. APT, a 501(c)(3) organization and a major distributor of programming to Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) stations, will oversee production of this series. APT anticipates strong demand for "Wanderlust" from PBS stations because it will be the first series airing in the United States devoted exclusively to Asia. The producers are seeking funding of the series through corporate sponsorships. Contact Information:
Cancer causes more deaths of Chinese children than any other illness. CURE has partnered with the SCLF of Shanghai and Beijing to provide the initial funding for a program to increase the cancer cure rates among Chinese children. CURE is a nonprofit organization that consists of world-class volunteer experts in childhood diseases, along with representatives of the US government and businesses. The PRC Minister of Health supports the CURE vision and concept for developing nationwide network of "Centers of Excellence" for this important first national childhood health care initiative. The SCLF is hosting major fundraising galas on November 10, 2004 in Beijing and on November 12 in Shanghai, and sponsorship from US and Chinese businesses is critical to their success. Annual corporate memberships in CURE are also available.
Kham Aid Foundation works with communities in Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, providing grassroots assistance in the areas of health, education, and economic development. We are especially seeking sponsors for our midwife training program, which provides health care to women in remote rural communities where there are no doctors and infant mortality is historically very high. We are also seeking a corporate partner for our wheelchair program, which provides free wheelchairs to 80-100 needy disabled people in Sichuan each year and helps their families better care for them. Both programs receive significant publicity in China and abroad; Kham Aid hopes to receive donations of between $10,000 and $20,000. Contact Information:
Microloans, used to start small businesses such as selling chicken eggs or repairing bicycles, have allowed many poor people to work their way out of poverty; the power of information technology (computers, the Internet, and telecoms) can help small village banks manage loan portfolios, connect clients to timely market information, and network across vast distances. A combination of entrepreneurship and technology could help in China's quest to close the gap between rich and poor. PlaNet Finance China is a nonprofit organization that works to reduce poverty by supporting the microfinance sector in China particularly through the effective use of information and communication technology (ICT). PlaNet Finance has provided skills training to "barefoot bankers" in rural and urban areas throughout China since 2002, including Guangxi, Jilin, and Shaanxi. Working together with local partners, such as the All-China Women's Federation and the China Foundation for Poverty Alleviation, PlaNet Finance China serves more than 30,000 low-income entrepreneurs all over the country. PlaNet Finance seeks corporate and individual partners to support the program with equipment, human resources, or financial support. All potential partners from outside or within China are encouraged to get involved.
China has a well-established commercial solar thermal industry with more than 1,000 factories that manufacture and sell solar hot water collecting systems.Most of these collectors are used to heat water and are sold without subsidies. But poor and inconsistent product quality and the fragmented nature of the solar industry in China prevent market penetration and long-term market growth. In addition, many communities dislike the appearance of current solar technology and resist large-scale dissemination efforts. This project promotes solar thermal technology as an alternative to coal for heating water for residential use, by integrating high-quality solar technology into attractive and cost-effective building designs. The project focuses on strengthening capacity within the building industry to integrate solar water heating technology into new residences. It also conducts consumer outreach on the benefits of solar technology and explores opportunities for creating financial incentives for real estate developers and home buyers to use solar systems. Since this program began, it has constructed three times as many demonstration projects as originally planned and has influenced policy in ways that will contribute to solar water heating beyond the pilot projects. UNF seeks sponsors who could make a tax-deductible contribution to support the development of solar water heating systems. Such assistance could lead to interesting opportunities to engage directly in the project, either through participation in the demonstration projects or through the development of joint ventures or other relationships with participating Chinese contractors. Contact Information:
Poor operational energy efficiency is a chronic problem with small and medium-scale coal-fired boilers in China; they alone account for a quarter of China's annual carbon dioxide emissions. This pollution contributes to climate change and the growing number of related health problems in China. Studies have identified three key contributing factors—poor operations, lack of maintenance, and variable fuel quality—that together combine to reduce the average operational efficiency of boilers by 10 to 20 percent. In partnership with the Italian Ministry of Environment, UNF supports this project to promote market-based mechanisms to improve the energy efficiency of small coal-fired boilers in China to reduce pollution and protect the environment. The project will establish energy service companies to provide boiler and maintenance services to industrial plants and institutions in three pilot cities and to generate coal and cost savings for boiler owners as well as environmental benefits. Because of the relatively low economic cost of using coal and the PRC government's concern about national energy security, coal is likely to remain a main fuel source for space heating and industrial boilers for the next 20 years. The project activities are crucial to realizing significant energy savings, preventing efficiency deterioration of new boilers, and reducing China's carbon dioxide emissions. UNF seeks sponsors who could make a tax-deductible contribution to support the establishment of energy service companies which provide boiler and maintenance services to industrial plants and institutions. Such assistance supports the improvement of energy-efficient, small, coal-fired boilers, which generates savings for boiler owners and helps to reduce China's carbon dioxide emissions. Contact Information: Other NoticesThe US-China Legal Cooperation Fund Invites Grant Proposals The US-China Legal Cooperation Fund, established in June 1998, is a program of the China Business Forum, charitable education and research arm of the US-China Business Council. The Fund offers grants to Chinese and American cooperating partners for worthy projects in a wide range of areas of Chinese legal development. The Fund welcomes proposals for financial support. To date, the Fund has supported more than 50 projects, through 11 semiannual grant rounds. All information about the Fund, including eligibility and application guidelines, may be found at the Fund's website, www.uschinalegalcoop.org. The application process is simple, but applicants must follow the instructions on the website exactly if their applications are to be given full consideration. The next deadline for applications is October 1, 2004. Give2Asia Give2Asia, a US-based, nonprofit foundation established by the Asia Foundation in 2000, aims to facilitate philanthropic activities across Asia by providing services to donors. Using the Asia Foundation's network of offices in 17 countries, Give2Asia can help donors find partners in their area of interest, perform due diligence on potential grantees, and custom-design programs, among other services. Contact information: NOTE: The China Business Review encourages contributions to Opportunities from organizations that have developed joint US-PRC charitable, cultural, and educational projects that seek US corporate support. Interested organizations should submit full details of their project(s) in the format above by e-mail to publications@uschina.org with "Opportunities Submission" in the subject line. |
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