A call to greater care for the environment is at the top of dairy mogul Yili Group's concerns. Having been awarded the "Special Contribution Award" at the 10th China CSR Award Ceremony in Beijing last December, Inner Mongolia Yili Industrail Group Co Ltd (Yili Group) continues to be the standard bearers for social responsibility.  

As China's largest dairy producers, Yili Group are focusing on a range of social endeavours, from children's growth and development, environmental protection, culture development and services geared towards improving disaster and emergency services.

As of now, Yili has invested 11.8 billion yuan ($1.744 billion) to help 2,600 partners along the industry chain. It also established three academies for pasture partners, suppliers and dealers. In terms of public welfare, Yili has invested 800 million yuan in total.

Yili Ark project of Yili Group aims at protect the children's safety. [Photo/Yili Group]

The Group also implemented the "Yili Nutrition 2020" project to improve children's health and the "Yili Ark" project to protect their safety.

The group also conducted a wetlands protection project in Northeast China in cooperation with the World Wide Fund for Nature or World Wildlife Fund. It signed the Enterprise and Biodiversity Undertaking at the Convention on Biological Diversity conference held in Cancun, Mexico, in Dec, 2016.

Establishing the "Health China Social Responsibility System" in 2017, and drafting an emergency plan for social responsibility and releasing the first corporate citizenship report have been key to the Yili Group's recent social concerns. These social responsibility schemes are aligned with the United Nation's Sustainable Development Goals for 2030, which encourage various industries to focus on sustainability, quality, nutrition and health.

Alongside that, the Yili Group was recently the first Chinese food enterprise to enter the UN Global Compact. Accordingly, Chairman Pan Gang of Yili Group, said that "Only when enterprises keep a positive interaction with environment and society can they achieve sustainable development.”