On Sunday, 7th November 2010, COSCO International Holdings Limited (“COSCO International” or “the Company”) supported Sowers Action, a non-profit making charitable organisation, for the third consecutive year to sponsor its annual fund raising event namely “Sowers Action Challenging 12 Hours Charity Marathon 2010” in order to help students living in rural mountainous regions in China Mainland complete their studies. A total of 24 staff forming 6 teams participated in the 10km race together with some staff being volunteers. All participating staff finished their competition and the corporate cup team of COSCO International won the second runner-up in the 10km corporate cup category. Their active participation reflected the enthusiasm of the Company as a whole to participate in charitable activities and their citizenship of caring the community.

Mr. Wang Xiaodong, Managing Director of COSCO International said, “COSCO International  has always shown concern and support for education in China. We believe that knowledge is power to transform society and help the country thrive. We concur with the mission of Sower Action to help children of China’s impoverished mountainous regions to resume schooling through concrete actions. We have made donations totaling HK$466,000 to Sowers Action over the past three years as sponsorship for its annual fund raising programme, Sowers Action Challenging 12 Hours Charity Marathon, as well as subsidies for children in China’s mountainous regions to complete their studies. More than 200 students benefited from our donations. Through participating in this meaningful activity, we not only could help  students living in impoverished mountainous regions in China Mainland, but also provided an opportunity for our staff to experience the students’ hardship in studying, so as to promote a caring and giving awareness to our country and the needy amongst our staff.”

It was a sunny day while the 24 staff of COSCO International were all high-spirited and started their hiking from Shing Mun Reservoir in Tsuen Wan and finished at Tai Po, New Territories. Though the trail was rugged and participants were soaked in sweat, they continued their race. Finally, all 6 teams of participating staff finished their competition and the corporate cup team of COSCO International won the second runner-up in the 10km corporate cup category. This showed the staff’s team spirit of collaboration and making their best endeavors to complete the race.

“Sowers Action Challenging 12 Hours Charity Marathon” is an annual, large-scale fund raising hiking activity organised by Sowers Action and has been held for the 11th year since 2000. The event was divided into three categories including 42km, 10km and 2.3km. All participants should complete the designated sections of the Wilson Trail in Hong Kong within 12 hours. In doing so, they experience the hardship of the children of the rural mountainous regions. At the same time, participants are required to raise funds to help the poor students to complete their education for a better life in the future. 17,676 participants participated in this event in the past 11 years and the total funds raised was over HK$24,000,229. Apart from specific uses designated by the donors, every cent of the funds raised in the event is spent on subsidising the students in the rural areas in China Mainland only.