Japanese automaker Toyota and domestic food manufacturer Sanquan might seem completely unrelated, but a charity program has linked them together to help poverty-stricken students continue their university studies.

Thanks to donations from the two businesses, stipends from a program begun by the Chinese Red Cross Foundation (CRCF) last December have since provided aid to more than 600 students at eight universities.

Philanthropic initiative

Guangzhou Toyota Motor Co Ltd offered stipends to 30 freshmen at the South China University of Technology this month. They will each receive 4,500 yuan annually for two years.

The automaker signed a contract with CRCF in April to provide a total donation of 600,000 yuan to 60 poor freshmen at South China University of Technology in Guangzhou and Jilin University in Northeast China's Jilin Province.

"This is our first step in the program," says the company's vice-president Hu Su, adding that more cooperation with the CRCF for other social causes is also under consideration.

Domestic frozen foods firm Zhengzhou Sanquan Food Co Ltd became the first sponsor of the stipend program when it announced a donation of 4 million yuan last year, enabling the project to cover six universities nationwide, including Peking University, China Youth University of Political Sciences and Henan University.

The private company promises a combined donation of 20 million yuan over five years.

Peng Bo, a freshman at South China University of Technology majoring in computers, is one of the beneficiaries. He says he is lucky to get a stipend.

He was born to a rural family with three children in Central China's Henan Province. Both his parents now have serious illnesses and his older brother and sister are studying at universities with the help of student loans. He could neither save enough money nor obtain a student loan to pay for higher education.

"Thanks to the stipend, I can enter the university," says the young man. "I will study hard and hope to be a member of Guangzhou Toyota one day."

Win-win strategy

According to Zhang Tingwen, human resources (HR) analyst at one of China's leading employment consulting websites, chinaHR.com, the stipend program is a winning approach for both the companies and university students.

"Employment is a serious challenge to university students, while excellent talent is badly needed by enterprises," says Zhang.

Through their involvement, companies have a means to promote their corporate images among university students and select qualified candidates from among them.

Both Guangzhou Toyota and Sanquan say they would like to employ supported students who have high professional skills upon graduation, selected through competitive hiring.

They both already publicize their companies in the student talent pool.

Guangzhou Toyota held company briefings and job fairs after ceremonies to award stipends at South China University and Jilin University, which received positive responses from students.

It also collected questionnaires in a bid to know what the real image of the company is in the minds of university students, who are potential customers of Toyota, and what the company should do to improve its campus hiring practices.

"We really appreciate Toyota's activities," says Chen Jianxin, deputy secretary with the university, explaining that in addition to the stipend, the briefing and fair gives students an idea of the exact requirements from employers and how students can improve to meet those needs.

As well, "responses from students help companies to adjust their HR strategies to increase management efficiency", says Zhang.

Liu Xuan'guo, assistant to the secretary general of the CRCF, says many domestic and foreign companies have contacted the foundation about participating in the program.

"We are sticking to transparency and efficiency in our partnership with enterprises and universities," says Liu, stressing that all money will be deposited in student bank accounts directly, with accounting through its own and third-party audits.

(China Daily 10/22/2007 page8)