Thanks to two donation programs launched by Mengniu and its partners this year and last year respectively, students in 1,000 primary schools in China are offered free Mengniu milk.

During the "Inaugural Annual Meeting of the New Champions - from Davos to Dalian," also known as the "Summer Davos," being held in Dalian from September 6-8, Klaus Schwab, executive chairman and founder of the World Economic Forum, met with Yang Wenjun, president of the Mengniu Group - a testament to Schwab's interest in the leading Chinese dairy products company.

What has drawn his attention is not only Milk Deluxe, a high-end brand of Mengniu served at the meeting and a favorite of the attendees, but also the great achievements of the group in terms of innovation, sustainable development and environmental protection.

Indeed, the success of the Mengniu Group shows that the company has become one of the champions among Chinese enterprises. Its legendary growth is a reflection of the dynamism of China's economy, as a US entrepreneur commented during the meeting.

A privately owned enterprise, the Inner Mongolia-based Mengniu Group was founded in 1999.

During the first two years since its founding, Mengniu Group realized a growth of 1,947.31 percent, becoming the champion among China's top 100 enterprises in terms of growth.

In 2002, the company was listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange - the first mainland dairy enterprise to go public there.

Largest producer

In 2003, Mengniu became the largest liquid milk producer in the domestic market.

In 2006, the company's revenues reached 16.26 billion yuan, one of the highest in China's dairy industry, while its daily production and sales volume of liquid milk reached more than 10,000 tons, Asia's highest.

Through years of vigorous and rapid development, Mengniu Group has earned itself the title of "the most respectable enterprise" in China.

The company has now mapped out an ambitious blueprint, aiming to become one of the top 20 dairy companies in the world by 2011, according to Yang, president of Mengniu.

To this end, the group has established the Mengniu Hi-tech Dairy Products Research Institute, offering a strong technical and human resource backup for its future development, said Yang.

This is a leading hi-tech research, development and production base in China's dairy industry, combining such functions as education, training, research and development (R&D), testing, production, storage and sightseeing.

When mentioning the sightseeing function, Yang said the institute will be open not only to ordinary tourists, but also to all colleagues in the dairy industry.

In addition, the institute has a third-party testing center, offering testing services to other industry players.

"We are ready to share our experience and expertise with our partners, in a hope to make China a strong dairy producer in the world," Yang said.

To build the institute into a powerful hi-tech engine for Mengniu's future development, it has enlisted the cooperation of such famous universities and research institutes as the Cambridge University in the United Kingdom, Monash University in Australia, the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Agriculture University.

Human resource and technical support from these partners, as well as Mengniu's own pool of talented personnel and expertise, will no doubt jointly transform this institute into a top dairy research facility in the country.

Corporate citizenship

Mengniu is a company that always highlights corporate citizenship and social responsibility.

According to Yang, environmental protection is also a concern of the Mengniu Group.

"Realizing harmonious co-existence between man and nature and between economic growth and environmental protection is always an important criteria to judge whether an enterprise is a champion among its counterparts," said Yang.

In the past years, the group has invested heavily in environmental protection. Its investment in sewage and gas treatment amounted to 310 million yuan to date.

It has built an advanced sewage treatment plant, with a daily treatment capacity of 10,000 tons. Discharged water from the plant can be directly used for agricultural irrigation and industrial production.

Incorporating technologies from Australia, the group has established a comprehensive treatment system for animal excrement. The marsh gas generated from the system can be used for power generation and the residues are good organic fertilizers that can be used in pollution-free vegetable growing.

The industrial chain created by Mengniu is also an reflection of the harmony between man and nature: the enlarged animal husbandry industry leads to a larger scale returning of farmlands to grasslands, the clean production creates blue skies and clear water, and the reuse of industrial and agricultural wastes leads to green agriculture.

Moreover, Mengniu helps about 3 million farmers increase their incomes and creates a better life for millions of customers through its high-quality products.

Mengniu's social responsibility is also reflected in its concern for the nation's children.

On June 6, together with 14 other companies and institutions including Lenovo and Microsoft, Mengniu launched the "China Milk League for Love" to donate milk to the nation's school children. Mengniu milk will be sent to 500 primary schools free of charge for one year. Counting the 500 schools covered in the "Daily Milk Giveaway Program" - another Mengniu donation program last year, the number of schools receiving free Mengniu milk will reach 1,000 this year.

The Daily Milk Giveaway Program is an answer to Premier Wen Jiabao's appeal to "let every Chinese, especially the children, drink at least 500 grams of milk every day."

In addition, Niu Gensheng, founder and chairman of Mengniu, has launched the "Lao Niu Foundation" to offer assistance to people in need.

(China Daily 09/07/2007 page52)