(21 September 2014 – Hong Kong) New World Department Store China Limited (“NWDS” or the “Company”; Hong Kong stock code: 825), one of the largest owners and operators of department stores in Mainland China, kicked off its “@Dream Sustainable Development Program” (“@Dream Program” or the “program”) in July 2013. Since the introduction of the program, it has received tremendous support from the public and has successfully provided about 6,000 under-resourced children in Mainland China with a variety of learning opportunities and resource support. Riding on the program’s first anniversary, the Company grandly staged its annual performance in the afternoon on 19 September at Wenzhi Hall of Shanghai Jiao Tong University, inviting over 700 teachers, students and different sectors of the community to witness the fruitful outcomes from NWDS and the students benefited in the previous year, spending a wonderful time together at the charitable occasion filled with love and care. Leaders from NWDS, Shanghai Fengxian Education Bureau, Shanghai Changning District Sports Association , Children’s Hope Foundation, the Red Cross Society of Qinghai, “My Soul Campaign” Charitable Society, Shanghai Children’s Medical Center and Youth Daily were invited to the stage to carry out a grand launch action by watering plant seedlings together with “@Dream Sand Pots” which symbolizes that the collaboration between NWDS and caring enterprises could cultivate little seedlings to grow into towering trees.

About 100 students benefited from the program have participated in the performance. They were mostly from Jinhui School in Shanghai Fengxian District, Shanghai Changning Road Primary School and Qinghai-Tibet. All of them were migrant children, children from families with financial difficulties and left-behind children. To acknowledge the tremendous support from the society, the Rainbow Orchestra of Jinhui School in Shanghai Fengxian District dedicated “Dancing with the Dragon” performed by its Chinese folk music band to the audience to mark a perfect beginning to the show, followed by “Rave Party” presented by its electro-acoustic band and “Robot Cat” played by its saxophone band. Its pipa team also played an accompaniment for the English poem recitation of students of “@Learning – Education Voyage” program, highlighting the learning outcomes of two themed compositions. Students of Shanghai Changning Road Primary School under the “@Sports – Tennis Academy” program performed tennis-inspired dance to showcase their sports talent. The children benefited from “@Soul – Distant Calls” charitable campaign came all the way from Qinghai to Shanghai to present the audience with a gift of purity and nobility - Khata and impressed the audience with their angelic voices and joyful Tibet dance originated from the Plateau. They also made phone calls on the stage to have heart-to-heart conversation with their parents living far away. The audience was deeply moved by the students’ remarkable performance and cheerful faces. Lastly, with the video clips of past events broadcasting on the big screen, NWDS Volunteer Team presented the audience with a heart-warming performance, putting a perfect end to the event.

“@Dream Sustainable Development Program” is the largest nationwide sustainable development community program since the establishment of NWDS. It aims at providing under-resourced children in Mainland China a diversified learning platform that offers them knowledge outside textbooks as well as training opportunities. Under the four themes of sports, music, learning and soul, the Company had joined hands with organizations such as Shanghai Fengxian Education Bureau, Shanghai Changning District Sports Association, the Children’s Hope Foundation, the Red Cross Society of Qinghai, “My Soul Campaign” Charitable Society, Shanghai Children’s Medical Center, Youth Daily and the China Women’s Development Foundation to co-organize eight different activities to assist the comprehensive development of under-resourced children in Mainland China in the aspects of moral, intellectual, physical, social and aesthetics to boost their confidence level.

Ms. Rebecca Woo, Corporate Affairs Director and Chairman of Sustainability Steering Committee of NWDS, said, “‘@Dream Program’ is the largest sustainable development program since the Company’s establishment and it symbolizes our great step forward in giving back to society. We could not be more pleased and proud to witness the remarkable achievements the students made as a result of the activity series took place last year, they are namely ‘Rainbow Orchestra’, ‘Education Voyage’, ‘Tennis Academy’, ‘Soccer Dreams’ and ‘Hope Walkathon’, ‘Distant Calls’, ‘Santa Claus is Coming’ and ‘Wish upon a Star’. Their brilliant performance today has fully demonstrated their confidence, as well as the fact that every child could succeed if appropriate resources are provided. Learning from last year’s experience, we have better understanding towards the needs of under-resourced children in Mainland China. Looking forward, we are going to further expand the breadth and depth of the program, deepen the cooperation with our partners to extend the beneficiary scope so that more children can be benefited, having the opportunity to enjoy a healthy life and spread their wings.”

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