Oct. 20 (as per London time), Chinese President Xi Jinping met with The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge Prince William of the UK at Buckingham Palace where Xi stayed. Xi pointed out that in recent years, China has made outstanding achievements in wildlife conservation and the fight against illegal trade in wildlife. China is willing to continue to work with all countries, including the UK, to strengthen cooperation in wildlife conservation.

Against this backdrop, on the morning of October 21 (as per London time) at Kensington Palace—the official residence of Prince William—the Duke and the Chinese private entrepreneur as well as Chairman of Sanpower Group Yuan Yafei signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for the Wildlife Conservation Fund that the two had previously co-sponsored. On behalf of both sides, Nick Booth, Chief Executive of The Royal Foundation, and Yue Lei, Senior Vice President of Sanpower Group, signed the memorandum. Prince William and Chairman of Sanpower Group Yuan Yafei witnessed the signing ceremony. This is another achievement accomplished between Sino-British non-governmental diplomacy during Xi Jinping’s state visit to Britain.

 

 

The Royal Foundation of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry was legally established by The Princes in September 2009, intended as the main vehicle for their philanthropic activities. Prince William has been an active champion of the protection of endangered animals for many years, making it his personal mission and expending great efforts to end the illegal trade in rhino horn and ivory. Prior to this, Prince William has also recorded promotional videos in different languages for the protection and rescue of endangered animals alongside his father, Prince Charles. As recent as 19 October, Prince William was featured on China Central Television programme Voice to promote wildlife protection and calling for the end of the illegal trade in wildlife. This coincided with the Chinese President’s arrival in the UK and as a result the event received particular attention in the British media.  

 

It is reported that the Wildlife Conservation Fund cooperation project is the first charitable activity carried out by The Royal Foundation via external cooperation, and singling out Chinese entrepreneurs for cooperation is also the result from Prince William’s first visit to China this March. On that trip, President Xi Jinping met personally with the Prince, during which both sides exchanged their opinions on wildlife protection. Xi Jinping introduced China’s policies and the work it is doing on the conservation of wildlife such as elephants and expressed his hope that international cooperation in this area could be strengthened. Prince William expressed his deep admiration for China’s efforts and hoped that China will become a leader in wildlife protection.

 

On 2nd, March, in Shanghai, Prince William attended the GREAT Festival of Creativity, an event organised by the British government. As Sanpower Group holding Nanjing Cenbest has acquired the British quintessential department store House of Fraser, Prince William met with Chairman of Sanpower Group Yuan Yafei during the visit and the two had an enjoyable exchange. Prince William applauded House of Fraser’s sales and profit growth since its takeover by Sanpower Group, a performance which has broken records for the 165-year-old company. The discussion also extended to philanthropic endeavours. While learning about the company’s development over the past few years, Prince William did not overlook the chance to give back to society and take part in charity work. During the discussion he invited Yuan Yafei to join him on his visit to see wild elephants in Xishuangbanna, Yunnan.

 

On 4th, March, Prince William travelled to Xishuangbanna, Yunnan, to visit a breeding base for Asian elephants. Yuan Yafei represented the only invited Chinese entrepreneur to accompany Prince William on his visit to the Elephant Sanctuary. It was in this brief trip to Yunnan that Prince William and Yuan Yafei reached a common idea of the co-establishment of the Wildlife Conservation Fund.

 

Since then, the two sides had conducted close communications that culminated in fruition in this October. With the MOU for the Wildlife Conservation Fund signed, public actions to protect wildlife will be launched officially, and the Fund will work together with United for Wildlife (UfW) in the fight against the poaching of iconic species in Africa and the trafficking of animal body parts across borders. In the first phase of cooperation project that has been finalised, two wildlife-conservation observation stations and training centres will be set up in Botswana and Kenya of Africa to provide training and technical support for the rangers. Meanwhile, the information level of the protection zone will be enhanced to further strengthen the capacity of local wildlife conservation.

 

The sponsors of the Fund are Prince William and Chairman Yuan Yafei of Sanpower Group, the executors are The Royal Foundation of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry, while the donor is Yuan Yafei. The Royal Foundation did not disclose the specific amount of the donation, but said that “Sanpower has agreed to make a significant donation to support the creation of two Regional Ranger Training Hubs in Eastern and Southern Africa, providing significant new resources for ranger training. Not only will these hubs provide centralised locations for learning and trialling new technologies but they will also ensure information is shared between parks and rangers.”

 

The establishment of the Fund has gained Sanpower Group even greater fame in the UK, and the Group has thereby won supreme favour and respect among local government and people. “Sanpower Group aspires to a responsible enterprise that will actively exert increasing charitable efforts. The meantime we are promoting international businesses, we’re also attaching great importance to the internationalisation of public welfare. That is because we believe a strong business thinks about today, while a responsible one looks into the future.” Yuan Yafei said.