Printing equipment on show at an international printing exhibition in Beijing. Experts believe professional financial printers from around the world will abound in China. Xiao Xiao / Xinhua

Companies have come to realize that communicating with investors and the public requires more than pretty pictures, Li Yang reports

Chinese companies seeking to raise their international profiles are realizing the importance of clear communication through financial reports and corporate social responsibility statements.

To tell their stories to the people who buy their products and their shares, they're turning to professional financial printing companies, such as Hong Kong-based Toppan Vite Ltd.

At an awards ceremony in Beijing last week, three of the company's clients from the Chinese mainland - China Mobile Ltd, Shenhua Group Corp Ltd and Nestle (China) Ltd - were recognized in the International Annual Report Competition Award.

The honor is one of the best-known global awards for annual reports and CSR statements that best communicate companies' visions and values.

The awards are given out by MerComm Inc, a United States-based independent award organization that seeks to promote excellence in the communications field and recognize outstanding individual contributions.

"We did not expect to win the award for the CSR report produced by Toppan Vite. But it's still good publicity for our company," Jenny Ge, assistant manager of special projects at Nestle (China), said.

She displayed the winning report, which bears the photograph of a smiling coffee farmer in Yunnan, China, on the cover.

Ringo Mo, general manager of Toppan Vite's sales and marketing division, delivered the awards to those honored and expressed his optimism about the market for corporate communications and professional printing.

"Beijing and Shanghai will attract more foreign companies and become the nation's most important international business hubs. As our main clients come to China, we'll naturally follow them here," he said.

All kinds of Chinese companies are important potential clients for his company, he added.