Embracing Chinese culture

China’s presence in SA is anchored by a series of cultural and CSI initiatives

SA’S multicultural population has earned it the moniker of the “rainbow nation”. Ultimately, South Africans have learnt to appreciate and incorporate diversity of culture in their everyday lives. During the process of investing in SA, Chinese enterprises have also absorbed the culture of the rainbow nation into their work.

To this end, the China Construction Bank’s Johannesburg branch sets great store on developing its corporate culture, aiming to fully understand and respect diversity, religious beliefs and traditions, with an emphasis on building staff teams to epitomise the “rainbow culture”.

The Johannesburg branch regularly organises team-building activities, which helps the SA employees to understand Chinese traditional culture, as well as develop unity and co-operation between staff members.

The Bank of China’s Johannesburg branch has also integrated well with indigenous cultures. Employees from different backgrounds work hard towards common goals in this inclusive “family” environment. Though staff speak a variety of languages and come from diverse cultures, management identifies and adjusts to SA customs, cultivates key personnel in homegrown businessese and prioritises local personnel to carry out special training to increase cohesion in the business.

Sinosteel views the harmonious relationship between staff and local communities as an important component of creating a win-win situation. To create a sustainable environment — both internally and externally — the company ensures strict compliance with local laws and regulations, insists on the implementation of SA employee policies, respects and protects the rights of employees, emphasises equal opportunities and advocates inclusion. Employees at Cosco SA Shipping company come from a variety of backgrounds and religious beliefs. A culture of respect for all has been cultivated in the company.

The FAW SA company organised for all staff to celebrate the Chinese New Year during the Spring Festival. The majority of local staff showed great interest and enthusiasm and participated actively in the planning of celebration activities. The Chinese staff of FAW SA prepared traditional festival food such as dumplings for the local staff. Longyuan SA also promotes the relationship between Chinese staff and local staff and adds a personal touch to relationships by celebrating the birthdays of employees.

CSI inititiaves

Chinese enterprises have worked hard to integrate with local communities, heeding the adage “be responsible in heart and respond in action”. In so doing, the community contributes to local society; shares the results of development and construction with neighboring communities; and adds value to the lives of many local people.

For example, Wesizwe Plattinum installed 32 sets of 5,000l water supply facilities for two communities consisting of 45,000 residents in the vicinity of the mine. Gold One Group understands the importance of developing surrounding communities and creating good relationships within local mining areas. In order to strengthen interaction and conversations with local communities and accelerate the realisation of the mine’s commitment to labour programmes, Gold One successfully launched Gosef (Gold One Stakeholder Engagement Forum) as a structured and equitable representation platform to deal with the concerns of community and stakeholders.

Palabora Mining Company Ltd (PMC) is located in Phalaborwa, where there is a population of about 150,000 people across eight communities. For many years,

PMC has played a significant role in the continuous development of their employees and the entire Phalaborwa community, together with the promotion of community transformation. In fact, PMC connects the social responsibilities of the company closely with its successful operation. PMC has been recognised as a model of promoting harmony with people and the