EEO, By Du Yuan | "When I received the college admission notice, I was extremely excited, but the tuition fee of a few thousand yuan a year made me nonplussed. It is the support of Hunan's 'Oceanwide Education Subsidy Action" that ignited the ideal torch for me so that I could really go to college." This is the speech made by Peng Fujun, a freshman from Hunan Normal University, at a local education donation activity.

Peng Fujun and his family was an impoverished household registered in Sanpu Village, Pukou Town, Liling City, Zhuzhou, Hunan Province. In 2017, a total of 66 freshmen from poor households in Liling received a grant of RMB 5,000 per person. These donations came from the "Oceanwide Education Subsidy Action," which allows impoverished students like them to study with no worry.

According to the report of the 19th National Congress of the CPC, we should win the battle against poverty. We should mobilize the energies of our whole Party, our whole country, and our whole society, and continue to implement targeted poverty reduction and alleviation measures. We will pay particular attention to helping people increase confidence in their own ability to lift themselves out of poverty and see that they can access the education they need to do so. On the path of targeted poverty alleviation, private enterprises are important forces. Oceanwide Holdings, which has grown up over the course of more than 30 years of reform and opening up, has set up a model that has consistently promoted poverty alleviation and public welfare.

After more than 30 years of development, Oceanwide Holdings has developed into an international enterprise group engaged in real estate, data and information technology, financial services, cultural tourism, and strategic investment. Adhering to the philosophy of "benefiting from society and contributing to society," Oceanwide Holdings has successively invested in the establishment of the Oceanwide Foundation, the Chinese Yiwen Foundation, and the Shandong Oceanwide Foundation. At present, these three foundations have become important public welfare platforms for Oceanwide Holdings to benefit and contribute to the society. They have donated more than RMB 6 billion to public welfare undertakings, funded more than 300 public welfare projects, and benefited tens of thousands of poor villages and millions of people.

Integrated plan of educational poverty alleviation

Since its establishment in 1985, Oceanwide Holdings has always pursued philanthropy in its development. Chairman Lu Zhiqiang has been on the Hurun Philanthropy List for 12 consecutive years. As a private entrepreneur, Lu has paid special attention to educational poverty alleviation. "Education can change fate, and educational poverty alleviation can make a difference. Oceanwide Holdings has been holding gratitude and contributing to the society. We hope to focus on educational poverty alleviation and participate in various activities such as charitable poverty alleviation and industrial poverty alleviation as a means to actively fulfill our corporate social responsibilities. We help poor families, support poor students, and make greater contributions to poverty alleviation and education," said Lu Zhiqiang.

Under the guidance of the goal of poverty alleviation in the new era, Oceanwide Holdings has followed the Central Government's poverty alleviation measures, summed up and reviewed its practice of educational poverty alleviation over the past years, and prioritized assistance to education in its targeted poverty alleviation. We have formulated and implemented long-term plans for educational poverty alleviation through systematic assistance and support, aiming at the three stages of admission, on-campus study, and entrepreneurship after graduation for impoverished college students:

From 2016 onwards, we will donate RMB 2.3 billion in five years to carry out the "Oceanwide Education Subsidy Action" in 10 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities); we will donate about RMB 30 million to carry out the "Heart • Glory Education Subsidy Action" in 32 colleges and universities in Shandong; we will donate RMB 150 million to carry out the "Oceanwide College Student Entrepreneurial Action"... These charitable poverty alleviation actions have formed the Oceanwide public welfare brand featuring "integrated planning, assistance to education, systematic charity, targeted poverty alleviation, current efforts and long-term benefits."

"Self-development" supported by industrial poverty alleviation

The purpose of educational poverty alleviation is to open up development pathways for impoverished students and block the intergenerational transmission of poverty; while as to industrial poverty alleviation, Oceanwide Holdings seeks to promote local socio-economic development by assisting industrial projects that are suitable for poverty-stricken areas, thereby supporting "self-development" of impoverished areas.

In February 2016, Oceanwide Poverty Alleviation Industrial Capital Investment Management Co., Ltd. with a registered capital of RMB 10 billion was established, followed by the launch of the agricultural photovoltaic poverty alleviation project in Xundian County, Yunnan. This project with investment of more than RMB 20 million allows organic integration of photovoltaic power generation and modern agricultural planting. More than 60 modern agricultural greenhouses are all equipped with sprinkling irrigation and drip irrigation equipment. Solar membrane modules on the greenhouses are pervious to light and can generate electricity, achieving "power generation on the greenhouses and planting under the greenhouses." This has realized the intensive use of land to the greatest extent, helped villagers earn money through industrial development, and effectively protected the local ecological environment.

"This agricultural photovoltaic poverty alleviation project funded by Oceanwide Holdings will bring significant social benefits to the village," said Wang Hongzhi, Director of the NPC Working Committee of Jinsuo Sub-district, Xundian County, in an interview with Xinhua News Agency. The Eyang Village where the project is located is a typical impoverished village. There are 200 registered impoverished households among the 230 households. Working outside the village and planting potatoes are the main source of income for the villagers for a number of years. The project has injected new impetus to the poverty alleviation in the village.

Following the idea of industrial poverty alleviation, the financial enterprises under Oceanwide Holdings have also actively assisted the developing regions with financial wisdom and introduced financial resources to make up for the inadequacies of traditional development models.

Since 2016, Minsheng Securities has fully exerted its advantages in the areas of capital market, macro-economy, and industrial development research, actively responded to the calls of regulatory authorities and industry associations, given play to its strength as a financial enterprise, and fulfilled its social responsibilities. It has implemented one-to-one assistance in Nankang District of Ganzhou, Jiangxi; Aketao County of Xinjiang, and Taipusi Banner of Inner Mongolia, where it has provided comprehensive financial services such as research and consulting, financing services, capital investment, and financial consultancy for local enterprises, and reduced relevant expenses.

Two "Five-Year Plans" for poverty alleviation

With the continuous expansion of Oceanwide Holdings in the fields of finance and investment in recent years, the company has exhibited a trend of medium-high-speed growth during the transformation. Oceanwide Holdings has also increased investment in the charitable poverty alleviation. From 2015 to 2017, the Oceanwide Foundation alone donated RMB 762 million, RMB 1.899 billion, and RMB 1.137 billion (as of September), respectively.

Oceanwide Holdings stated that according to the specific directions mentioned in the National "13th Five-Year Plan" for Poverty Alleviation, combined with previous experience in poverty alleviation and the company's own advantages, Oceanwide Holdings has formulated two five-year (2016-2020) implementation plans for "charitable poverty alleviation" and "industrial investment poverty alleviation."

In the future, the charitable poverty alleviation of Oceanwide Holdings will continue to focus on educational poverty alleviation. In addition to the continued implementation of the "Oceanwide Education Subsidy Action," the "Heart • Glory Education Subsidy Action," and the "Oceanwide College Student Entrepreneurial Action," Oceanwide Holdings will further expand the coverage of educational donations based on the needs of the country and society.

In terms of industrial poverty alleviation, Oceanwide Holdings will exert its advantages in infrastructure construction, financial services, and investment, work hard to engage with local governments, and build sustainable development industrial projects depending on local resource endowments and laws of the market, with a view to benefiting economically less-developed areas and maximizing the benefits of industrial poverty alleviation.