Addax Petroleum, the biggest overseas subsidiary of China's oil giant Sinopec Group, is determined to fulfill its social responsibilities in Africa, China and other developing countries as it expands its business.

The Permanent Mission of China to the UN Office in Geneva has hailed the company for its successful projects in education, health and the environment in Africa and China, which it said has set an excellent example for Chinese companies investing overseas.

Zhang Yi, CEO of Addax Petroleum, a former Geneva-based company that was sold to Sinopec in 2009 for $7.6 billion said: "We have treated the fulfilling of our social responsibility as part of our soft competitiveness.

"Any company without this kind of vision will not earn respect on a global stage."

Zhang said the company has invested $1 million and registered a charity, Sinopec-Addax Petroleum Foundation, in Geneva, and up to 20 charitable projects involved in education, health and environment have been created in eight countries as a result.

As chairman of the foundation, Zhang said its mission is to empower poor communities in rural and remote areas by reinforcing their capacities and helping them reach self-sufficiency.

For example, in Uganda the foundation has helped one local community, 9 km from Fort Portal in the west of the country, to build a training center for beekeeping.

In Sierra Leone, the foundation has focused on training local people on organic farming methods and nutritional and dietary issues that can be incorporated into agricultural projects.

And in Ghana, the foundation has supported the reconstruction of an orphanage.

"We have been building our expertise since we created the foundation, but we need to foster positive change, and maintain an open dialogue with our partners to successfully eradicate poverty and disease in these communities," said Zhang.

The foundation held a forum on Thursday to build effective partnerships between NGOs, the public and the private sector.

China Daily was involved as a media partner.

Marie-Gabrielle Cajoly, executive director of the foundation, said it aims to involve more partners in its activities to bring more hope to underprivileged people in Africa, but also the Middle East, China and other regions.

"Doing charitable work is an essential part of the culture at Addax Petroleum, which is all about diversity, openness and caring," said Cajoly.

Wu Haitao, charge d'affaires of the Permanent Mission of the People's Republic of China to the United Nations Office in Geneva, said China has made impressive progress in anti-poverty efforts, and fully supporting the UN's Millennium Development Goals of halving poverty by 2015.

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