State Grid’s subsidiary steps up its CSR efforts in Brazil
Growing up in the most dangerous Brazilian favela (slum), 15-year-old Daniel never thought of becoming a professional instrumentalist before he joined the Mare Orchestra.
The Mare Orchestra, sponsored by China’s State Grid Brazil Holding SA, is a training program for kids and teenagers from Mare slum to cultivate their musical talent. The program started with only 30 kids. Till date, the program has over 2,500 participants.
The orchestra performed for the audience, which included Chinese President Xi Jinping and former Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, in 2014 at the 40th anniversary of the diplomatic relations between China and Brazil. The orchestra is also invited to the Vatican to play for Pope Francis this May.
State Grid Brazil Holding SA, a subsidiary of electricity provider State Grid Corporation of China, has been an active social responsibility practitioner and a strong supporter of local development in Brazil.
One Hundred Photographers Focused on Brazil, for instance, was an album sponsored by State Grid Brazil. The album showcased Brazilian culture to the world through the works of Chinese and Brazilian photographers.
The company also sponsored over 50 projects including a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage project. The United Nations Global Compact honored State Grid Brazil for best practices in corporate social responsibility, or CSR.
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Today many Chinese StateOwned Enterprises, or SOEs, are concentrating on their CSR efforts. According to a research report on CSR of central enterprises co-released by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council, 76 percent of the central SOEs have established their own management teams in CSR operations.
The report also said that nearly 50 percent of the central SOEs have developed overseas CSR-related operations. Among those, 36 percent consider their overseas CSR efforts to have had a positive influence on local development.
In addition to central SOEs’ efforts on CSR, many enterprises promote charity work through their subsidiaries. According to the report, over 90 percent of the central SOEs actively invite their subsidiaries to join their CSR efforts.
Founded in 2010, State Grid Brazil Holding owns and operates 6,000 kilometers of power transmission lines in southeast Brazil.
Up to October 2017, State Grid Brazil’s total assets achieved 13 billion Brazilian reais ($3.9 billion). Its revenue in major business sectors reached 1.8 billion Brazilian reais. It also invested about 17 billion Brazilian reais in projects that are now under construction.
The company launched Brazil’s first 800 kV ultra-highvoltage transmission system in May 2015. State Grid Brazil was awarded “The Best Company in Brazil’s Electric Power Industry” twice by local financial newspaper Valor Economico in 2012 and 2014.