Areas of VGC CSR Focus
In 2018, Volkswagen Group China (VGC) added a further RMB 100 million to continue the support for its five major Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programs in Environmental Protection, Sustainable Mobility, Sports Development, Art & Culture, and Poverty Alleviation to encourage all sectors of society to make concerted efforts, contributing to the sustainable development of China’s society. To this day, VGC has invested a total of RMB 200 million in Volkswagen Group China ZHIXING CSR Fund.
Environmental Protection
In June 2016, in the presence of Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, VGC and the China Environmental Protection Foundation (CEPE) signed a fund cooperation agreement, with the first donation of RMB 10 million in support of the 1,000 Environmental Friendly Teacher Ambassadors Program. The program consists of three stages: the Year of Education, the Year of Creativity and the Year of Change. Through the development of teaching materials, offline in-depth training, courseware design competition, contests in environmental education practice and other forms, the program is created to help teachers gain access to environmental knowledge and teaching approaches, promote tens of thousands of primary and secondary school students to master environmental practices, and facilitate more positive changes in families and communities. This will fuel the sustainable development of Chinese society. As of now, the program has trained and retrained nearly 5,000 teachers, together with near 3000,000 students who have benefitted from the program.
Besides, Volkswagen Group China also cooperated with Goethe-Institut, Roots & Shoots and other institutions to carry out environmental education programs, aiming to foster long-lasting environmental and nature awareness among young generations and promote the sustainable development of environmental education in China.
Sustainable Mobility
VGC has focused on road safety for children since 2013. Together with its two joint ventures, SAIC VOLKSWAGEN and FAW-Volkswagen, and 6 group brands, VGC launched the “Protect Childhood, Child Safety First – Volkswagen Group China Child Safety Initiative (CSI)” project. A series of public welfare activities, including educational roadshows, forums and more have been carried out in more than 100 cities across China, affecting more than 100,000 families and over 3 million people.
Working together with the Ministry of Public Safety and the China Automobile & Technology Research Center (CATARC), VGC has supported “The China Child Road Safety & Feasibility Study on the Compulsory Use of Child Passenger Restraint Systems in China” and released the Blue Book on Child Road Safety in China for 3 consecutive years, starting in 2014.
In 2015, Volkswagen Group China officially established the Volkswagen Group China Child Safety Fund in partnership with the China Women’s Development Foundation (CWDF). With the fund, they had built the first community-based Child Safety Experience Centers in China, set up the Child Road Safety Public Welfare Platform focusing on “The Experience Center to be the Core”, launched the first “Child Traffic-Friendly Community“ program in China, and selected the Shuanghe Community of the Chengdu High-tech Industrial Development Zone, where the Volkswagen Child Safety Experience Center in Chengdu is located, as a pilot project. By the end of September 2019, nearly 800,000 families had directly benefited from the program, and indirect benefits had reached 2.4 million.
Sports Development
VGC has been introducing public resources from the VfL Wolfsburg Football School since 2014. It has organized the “Volkswagen-Wolfsburg Junior Football Program”, and invited VfL Wolfsburg Youth Training coaches to China to teach, providing opportunities for children in underdeveloped areas in China in terms of competition, exchange, experience, and sharing happiness. Through the use of football as a bridge to promote the cultural exchanges between China and Germany, VGC makes children feel the joy of playing football. So far, more than 3,000 Chinese youths from a dozen cities and regions across the country, including Jinggangshan and Zunyi, have gained skills in German football techniques and practical experiences.
Areas of VGC CSR Focus
In 2015, VGC, in partnership with the China Sports Foundation, established the Volkswagen Group China Junior Football Development Fund. By working closely with the Chinese Football Association, as well as its joint ventures FAW-Volkswagen and SAIC VOLKSWAGEN, and in response to the need for football skills development among young Chinese generations, talent reserves, and youth training systems, VGC also launched five programs: the Volkswagen Junior Football Training Camp, Volkswagen Junior Football Summer Camp, Volkswagen Junior Football Summer Camp in Germany, Volkswagen Junior Football Coaches’ Training and Volkswagen Injury Prevention and Nutrition Program. With a focus on the U10 to U12 age groups, the primary targets to support the development of local youth football, VGC invited foreign senior coaches to give players and coaches professional lectures on training strategies and strengthen the coaching ability of Chinese youth coaches. The program aimed to fortify exchanges between China and Germany in culture and sports, establish a sustainable youth football culture, and provide comprehensive and systematic support for the development of Chinese youth football. To date, a total of 5,000 young football players and 365 coaches have benefited directly from the projects, together with 48,000 indirect beneficiaries.
Culture
As an enterprise that has been in China for many years, Volkswagen Group China has always adhered to a people-oriented concept, committing itself to the implementation of CSR in China, and promoting the bilateral exchange between China and Germany. In the field of art and culture, Volkswagen continues to provide the public with high-quality cultural and artistic activities.
In 2015, together with the Yu Deyao Art Museum in Shanghai, Volkswagen Group China officially launched a cultural project to present the world's most popular interactive art installation “Rain House".
While creating more opportunities for the public to experience cultural and artistic projects, the Volkswagen Group actively promotes communication and exchange between China and Germany. In 2016, Volkswagen Group China established the Sino-German Youth Cultural Exchange Fund, giving support to programs that promote the sustainable development of the public and society. The Group also fully supported Germany’s premier theater festival, Theatertreffen Berlin, and brought it to China for the first time. As the exclusive mobility partner, Volkswagen Group China supported the Sino-German Youth Communication Celebration Concert in Beijing, and thus opened the China Youth Music Competition-Hummingbird Music Awards. Based on the renowned German model, Jugend Musiziert, the awards aim to provide young Chinese musicians the chance to perform on a national level.
Aimed at engaging the public with music, with a focus on the youth, Volkswagen Group China has co-founded and promoted the “Artistic Engagement Project China (AEP-China)” together with the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra for three consecutive years since 2017. As an innovative cultural project, “AEP-China” focuses on three major aspects: “youth”, “the art of music” and “throughout China”, striving to inspire people’s sense of art with the power of music. Meanwhile, the initiative leverages the artistic and cultural resources of top art and music academies and a group of globally influential artists to promote the development of youth music, culture & art education.
In September, 2017, as a driving force for Sino-German exchange, Volkswagen Group China launched “Deutschland 8 – Deutsche Kunst in China”, the large German art exhibition in Beijing. The “Deutschland 8” exhibition gathered Germany’s most important artists, featuring a total of nearly 320 works from 55 German artists, and was the largest German art exhibition ever held in China.
In September, 2018, as a follow-up to the “Deutschland 8” exhibition, Volkswagen Group China brought back one of Deutschland 8’s highlights, photo-artist Andreas Mühe, for his very first solo exhibition in China. At the same time, Volkswagen Group China worked together with Austria's Karajan Institute to conduct a cross-over sharing session, the “Art x Tech” Panel. A number of pioneers and experts from both the music and tech industries were invited to discuss how the future of mobility and technology connects with art and culture. In commemoration of the 120th anniversary of Deutsche Grammophon, a concert was supported by Volkswagen Group China at the Taimiao (Imperial Ancestral Temple), where Yu Long, a famous conductor, Shanghai Symphony Orchestra and many world-famous musicians participated to deliver a stunning performance. Volkswagen Group China collaborated together with the Yellow Lounge, for another crossover event between classical and modern music.
In 2019, Volkswagen Group China and the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra Cultural Development Foundation founded the "Shanghai Symphony Orchestra Cultural Development Foundation - Volkswagen Fund for Youth’s Musical and Artistic Education" to further support "AEP-China" and its five major initiatives, creating more opportunities for young people to experience music, art and culture. The “M.A.P. Class”, first created in 2016, is a creative music experience class that integrates drama performances, concerts, music appreciation and interactive games. As a cross-over experience that combines science and technology together, the event has been introduced to five megacities in China, attracting more than 100,000 people. The "Very Young Composers Program" and Youth Music Culture Guangdong (YMCG) committee provide the public with more opportunities to experience cultural activities. The educational activities during the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra College and Shanghai Band Academy's performance, provided professional guidance for young musicians, promoting music exchanges between China and Germany and allowed for young people to have a better understanding of classical music.
Areas of VGC CSR Focus
Poverty Alleviation
After the earthquake in Ludian, Yunnan Province in 2014, VGC immediately donated RMB 5 million to the earthquake-stricken areas through the China Women's Development Foundation (CWDF) to support the Yunnan Ludian earthquake relief project, and provide safe drinking water and long-term psychological assistance for children in the quake-hit areas. In the aftermath of the explosion in Tanggu, Tianjin, in 2015, VGC immediately donated RMB 2.1 million to the disaster area through the CWDF for the purposes of emergency relief and temporary resettlement for disaster-stricken families, including folding tables and chairs, daily supplies, bedding, tableware, simple cabinets, insulation pots, tents, and other basic necessities.
At the invitation of the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC), VGC has participated in the Rainbow Bridge Project since 2013, with an eye on people-to-people diplomacy and cultural exchanges. It focuses on less economically developed old revolutionary base areas as the breakthrough point to promote the development of vocational education and youth football by means of “teaching people how to fish”. In terms of vocational education, VGC donated the most advanced home-made engines and gearboxes to Yan’an Vocational and Technical College, Shanxi Province, the Vocational Secondary School of Xingguo County, Jiangxi Province and Zunyi Vocational and Technical College, Guizhou Province and invited representatives of teachers to visit and study at the Volkswagen plant, to support the cultivation of automotive professionals. In terms of youth football, Volkswagen Group China supports the establishment of youth football teams in primary and middle schools in underdeveloped areas such as Zhidan in Shanxi, Hongan in Hubei, Jinggangshan in Jiangxi and Zunyi in Guizhou. Since 2014, professional youth training coaches from the VfL Wolfsburg Soccer School were invited to teach in China every year, building a platform for them to pursue their football dreams. The execution of the Rainbow Bridge Project has become an exploratory innovative practice combining social good projects with Sino-German people-to-people diplomacy.
Human Resource development and education
Volkswagen Group China has won Top Employer Award for the 5 consecutive years.As an enterprise engaging talents from over 30 different countries and regions, cultural backgrounds and areas of expertise, the diverse group of employees is the soul and driving force for its development.
Volkswagen Group China places a strong focus on the personal development of employees and provides comprehensive professional and academic trainings to strengthen the understanding and application of new technologies in the areas of connectivity, autonomous driving, shared services and electrification, that are crucial to shape the future of mobility.
To adapt to the changing market environment, and speed up the strategy implementation in China, Volkswagen Group China provides various training qualifications to activate innovation from employees, promote collaboration to deliver results together, and live integrity for sustainable development. We make employee development a priority throughout all career stages, from entry level to top management, in order to identify, develop and retain talents within our company with comprehensive programs designed for different target groups, eg. Leadership License for future leaders; New Development Path into Management for future managers; global development programs for senior management and top management with renowned business schools worldwide.
The Volkswagen Group also maintains strong ties with vocational colleges, the involved majors included are from production to aftersales and service. Volkswagen Group China introduced the German Dual-system into the Chinese vocational education system and supports China to improve education quality and deliver qualified graduates to the labor market.
Volkswagen Group China also cooperates with a large number of universities, colleges and institutes throughout China. In close cooperation with top universities such as Tsinghua University (Beijing) and Tongji University (Shanghai), the Group has conducted more than 200 projects since 2015 to support the development of up-to-date scientific knowledge and to identify, attract & promote talents. These programs enable students to receive scholarships and internships, as well as have the opportunity to participate in research projects.
Volkswagen Group China has been dedicated to establishing a comprehensive and competitive Total Rewards system for our employees. Various rewards elements are considered in determining the competitiveness of our remuneration at our company, whether it’s our total monetary cash level or a variety of innovative and influential supplemental programs, such as the new special recognition award, employee service award, car purchasing and supplemental pension program which has always regarded talents as the precious wealth of our enterprise and the driving force of enterprise development.
Last but not least, Volkswagen Group China has created an attractive working environment & vibrant corporate culture which encourages ‘Break new ground’, ‘Speak up’ and ‘Live Diversity’. The annual Stimmungsbarometer survey serves to hear employees’ voices and take action to seek for continuous improvement. Volkswagen Group China’s new headquarters in Beijing called ‘V-Space’ sets the bench mark for state-of-the-art technology and comprehensive employee service including a Food Court, a Gym and a Health Center. V-Space provides a people-centric working environment that fosters collaboration and new ways of working towards future mobility.
Distribution network and marketing competence
By the end of 2019, Volkswagen Group China will have over 3,000 authorized dealerships across the country and 330,000 dealer staff providing professional services to thousands of customers every day. The sales network for the Volkswagen brand consists of four sales structures, assigned to SAIC VOLKSWAGEN, FAW-Volkswagen, JAC-Volkswagen and Volkswagen Group Import Company (VGIC) respectively. The SAIC VOLKSWAGEN, FAW-Volkswagen and JAC-Volkswagen operate independent sales structures for their own products, while business for all import models of the Volkswagen brand are coordinated by VGIC.
By 2023, we target a further increase in dealerships to over 3,400 (all VGC passenger car brands), while boosting the retail workforce to around 500,000 employees.
