(26 September 2015 – 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, held the “Demonstration Show cum Award Ceremony of @Dream Annual Games’ Finalists” (the “ceremony” or the “activity”) at Shanghai Greenland Shenhua Football Club’s training center on the afternoon of 25 September, inviting over 400 people from all walks of life to appreciate the superb football and tennis skills of the winning teams. During the ceremony, NWDS’ management, leaders from Shanghai Changning District Sports Association, Shanghai Fengxian Education Bureau, Shanghai Changning Education Bureau, Shanghai Education News Network and Shanghai Greenland Shenhua Football Club turned on the @Dream launching device together to kick start the performances on that day, symbolizing their collective efforts to help children pursue their dreams with the establishment of an athlete competition platforms. The “@Dream Sunshine Teen” winner, Zhou Yuxuan, was also selected on that day. 

A total of over 300 migrant children from Shanghai Tianshan No.2 Primary School in Changning District, Shanghai Changning Road Primary School and Shanghai Jinhui School in Fengxian District attended the ceremony, most of whom are the students of the “@Dream Sustainable Development Program” (“@Dream Program” or the “Program”). Following the opening performance of “The Happy Frontier Village” presented by the students of the “@Music-Rainbow Orchestra”, athletes marched in the venue with the national flag and team pennants in their hands. The “@Dream-Cool Soccer” students from Shanghai Tianshan No.2 Primary School in Changning District and the tennis team of Shanghai Haitang Primary School in Jinshan District, were the winners of the “@Dream Cup・Soccer Tournament” and the “@Dream Cup・Tennis Tournament” held earlier and replayed their fabulous skills in the final yesterday. Although the performances lasted only ten-odd minutes, they managed to receive huge applause from the audiences.

In order to further promote the importance of children’s whole-person development, the Company also organized the “@Dream Sunshine Teen” Voting Campaign from July to September, receiving over 0.77 million votes. At yesterday’s ceremony, the four candidates with highest votes pulled out all the stops at their talent performances to impress judges. Finally, combining the online votes and on-site judges’ scores, Zhou Yuxuan from Shanghai Changning Road Primary School won the honor of the “@Dream Sunshine Teen” with her Dai dance. The winner will take part in the “@Dream Sunshine Teen Charity Actions” in October with the students of the “@Dream Program”, aiming to develop their civic awareness of “giving is more blessed than receiving”. 

Since its launch in July 2013, NWDS’ “@Dream Program” has provided diverse training to over 7,000 under-resourced children in Mainland China. The “NWDS @Dream Annual Games” (“Games”), an annual heavy-weighted event of the program, is consisted of five key components, namely the “@Dream Cup・Soccer Tournament”, the “@Dream Cup・Tennis Tournament”, the “@Dream Sunshine Teen” Voting Campaign, the “Demonstration Show cum Award Ceremony of @Dream Annual Games’ Finalists” and the “@Dream Sunshine Teen Charity Actions”.

Ms. Rebecca Woo, Corporate Affairs Director and Chairman of Sustainability Steering Committee of NWDS, said, “NWDS hopes that all the children can have a holistic development in the aspect of moral, intellectual, physical, aesthetical and labor education. Sports not only can promote physical and mental development, but can also enhance one’s well-being and help nurture a positive attitude. Thus, NWDS has provided free soccer and tennis training programs to under-resourced children since last year and organizes the Games to increase public awareness to whole-person development and recognize students for their continuous hard work. During the activity, we also organized an online retweeting giveaway campaign and successfully promote the message of whole-person development effectively with the overwhelming support from over 20,000 online users. Looking forward, NWDS will continue the ‘@Dream Program’ and enhance stakeholders’ engagement, so as to help more students to have a sports-study balanced development.

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