The Thailand Chia Tai Group Lotus supermarket has given 3 million yuan (US$360,000) to the China Wildlife Conservation Association (CWCA) for the protection of the giant panda and the promotion of public awareness of the animal.

Handing over the cheque to Chen Runsheng, CWCA's secretary-general, at a ceremony held in Shanghai, Willis W Y Cheng, senior executive vice-president of the group, said he was "throwing out a brick to attract a jade" - or trying to raise more awareness among people about wildlife conservation.

In September, Lotus launched a "Save the Panda" program throughout its 35 stores around China.

"Whenever customers buy a particular product, we donate 10 cents to this program," said Cheng.

"This gives us a unique opportunity to communicate and bond with our customers and their children our precious future.

"We could only do this because of our hard work behind the scenes we have converted unnecessary marketing expenses into discounts for customers and environment funds for our children."

"The contribution from Lotus is largest CWCA has ever received from a foreign-funded company running a business in China," Chen confirmed.

"CWCA will use every penny to conserve wildlife in China, especially rare and endangered species like the giant panda and the ibis."

He was confident that CWCA's partnership with Lotus will also enable his organization to educate the next generation to take care of the environment they live in and all the lives they touch.

"We need more money for the conservation of rare and endangered species as well as to launch nationwide education on the protection of ecosystems for the young generation," Chen said.

CWCA, which was founded in 1983 and boasts 160,000 members throughout China, has to raise over half of its funds, the rest coming from government funding.

Over the past few years, the charity has received key donations from enterprises including 2 million yuan (US$240,000) from the Ningbo-based Youngor Group Corporation Ltd, and 1.5 million yuan (US$180,000) from P&G China, said Chen.

The giant panda is one of the oldest and the most endangered species in the world. The number is estimated at about 1,600 in China with at least 163 others either raised in captivity or living in zoos worldwide.

To date, China has founded 27 giant panda reserves and moved to protect at least 32 counties that are proven habitats of the rare species. At least 95 percent of giant pandas in the wild are now under protection.

(China Daily June 10, 2005)