Chinese company wins South-South Awards for charity

China's HNA Group on Sunday received the 2012 South-South Awards for its charity projects in parts of China and Africa over the past eight years.

The honor was granted by South-South News, a digital media platform initiated in February 2010 during the 16th Session of the UN General Assembly High-Level Committee on South-South Cooperation.

The Chinese business, the parent company of Hainan Airlines (HNA), gained the award thanks to its widely recognized charity program known as the Brightness Action, which has helped more than 4,400 underprivileged cataract patients in China and African countries regain their vision.

"While pursuing development, we've always been trying to give back to society and take on social responsibilities," Chen Feng, chairman of HNA Group, said at the awarding ceremony.

"To date, the group has made 115 million U.S. dollars' worth of charity donations to programs like HNA Brightness Action, Wings of HNA-Caring for Children Summer Camp, Hainan New York Festival and HNA Hainan Island Scholarship," he added.

Since its establishment in 1993, HNA has developed into a conglomerate covering aviation, tourism, logistics and financial services.

The South-South Awards 2012 is co-organized by, among others, the International Telecommunication Union and the UN World Tourism Organization.