China
AT A GLANCE
Families served to date1
2,058
Families served this year2
892
House sponsorship cost3
US$5,800
1
New houses, rehabilitations and repairs
2
First two quarters of
the financial year to June 30, 2010
3
International sponsorship cost
— As of April 2010 —
T HE RISE OF CHINA as a new economic powerhouse contin-
ues to dazzle. Living standards have improved dramatically
for many people over the past three decades. However, rising pros-
The devastating May 2008 earthquake in Sichuan produced an
outpouring of resources and volunteers. HFH China opened an of-
fice in the provincial capital Chengdu to coordinate its rebuilding
perity has sharply increased income inequality, especially between work in outlying communities. To date HFH China has built homes
people living in the countryside and those who live legally in major and assisted 817 families in five earthquake-affected villages. The
cities. work is continuing and includes the provision of a nursery school
for more than 300 children. Previously, HFH China had assisted
Rapid economic growth has greatly reduced abject poverty. How- families to reconstruct their houses in Chushui county, Yunnan,
ever, the World Bank estimates that in 2005, the latest figures avail- after a snow storm in early 2008, and also families affected by the
able, China still had 254 million people living on less than US$1.25 June 2007 earthquake in nearby Pu’er city. In Guangdong province,
a day. Many of these poorest people live in remote mountainous southern China, HFH China rebuilt homes for a community af-
regions or are members of minority communities. fected by flooding.
Many of the poor lack access to affordable housing, shut out by In 2009, Habitat established a project office in Shanghai to develop
soaring land and house prices, and the inadequate supply of low- and fund projects in the Yangzi river delta region and to support
cost accommodation. other project offices in China.
Habitat for Humanity China was established in 2000. It began oper- Most Habitat projects are in rural areas where homes are often
ations in 2002 in Kunming, capital of Yunnan, one of China’s poor- made of unsafe structures. Electricity is often available. Residents
est provinces. In 2004, offices were opened in neighboring Guangxi commonly rely on communal wells for water. However, decent
and Guangdong provinces. The Guangxi office, based in the provin- sanitation facilities are not widely available. A typical Habitat home
cial capital Nanning, is the result of a strategic partnership with the measures about 70 sq. m. in size, and is constructed with red bricks,
Guangxi Poverty Alleviation Development Office and the Guangxi stone, compressed earth blocks or wood supplemented with a tiled
Disabled Persons’ Federation. Initial projects in Guangxi involved roof. (Government regulations meant homes rebuilt after the Sich-
working with leprosy-affected people in to improve their homes in uan earthquake were larger.) A flat roof design is often preferred
a partnership that linked with The Leprosy Mission International. as home partners can use the space both for drying grain and for
The Guangdong office, based in the provincial capital Guangzhou, collecting rainwater.
was set up as a result of a partnership with the Guangzhou Disabled
Persons’ Federation. The China-leg of the November 2009 Carter Work Project was held
in a periurban setting in Qionglai city, Sichuan. Former US presi-
In January 2006, Habitat merged its operations in Hong Kong and dent Jimmy Carter visited volunteers working on apartments as part
China into a single entity. The move leverages on the resources and of an urban initiative by the city government to provide low-cost
business acumen of Asia’s premier international city to promote rental housing units to families in need.
Habitat’s mission of providing decent housing for those in need in
the world’s largest developing economy. Hong Kong concentrates China is an increasingly popular destination for locally-based and
on raising funds and recruiting teams of volunteers. For example, overseas Habitat volunteer build teams. Habitat has hosted volun-
benefit galas in five-star Hong Kong hotels have raised significant teer teams in Guangdong, Guangxi, Sichuan and Yunnan provinces
funds for Habitat programs inside and outside China. The office has from the American International School of Guangzhou, Interna-
played a leading role in raising both in response to natural disasters tional School of Beijing and Shanghai American School as well as
both within China and overseas. teams from South Korea and the United States.
Capital Habitat offices HFH China Highlights
In April 2010, HFH China’s Hong Kong office launched a program
Beijing
with the Young Women’s Christian Association to repair stilt houses
for low-income elderly residents in Tai O fishing village, offering
Yello w
Hong Kong volunteers a build experience within a pocket of poverty
Sea in one of Asia’s most prosperous cities.
Shanghai
Chengdu East
HFH China unveiled a partnership with Singapore-listed premium
China resort, hotel and spa developer Banyan Tree in April 2010 to raise
Sea
funds to build a total of 100 houses in Guangdong, China, and in the
Kunming Guangzhou Ta i w a n
Pasig River project in the Philippines.
Pacific
Nanning Hong Kong Marriott hotel group in Shanghai held a charity golf day in April
Ocean
0 200 400 km.
+DLQDQ South China
2010 in support of Habitat’s work. In March, HFH China’s Shanghai
0 200 400 ml. Sea office helped organize a concert in aid of rebuilding efforts in Haiti.
In January 2010, about 200 Korean college students supported by
COUNTRY FACTS
South Korea’s Hyundai Motors helped build homes in earthquake-
hit Sichuan province.
In November 2009, action film star Jet Li’s One Foundation inked a
POPULATION: 1,338,612,968 (JULY 2009 EST.) partnership agreement with Habitat to work together in Sichuan in
CAPITAL: Beijing 2010 and in Yunnan, Guizhou and Guangxi provinces in 2011.
LAND AREA: 9,596,961 sq. km.
More than 170 volunteers, mostly from Hong Kong, contributed
ETHNIC GROUPS: Han Chinese 91.5%, Zhuang, Manchu, Hui, their labor and time at the Qionglai site during the 2009 Jimmy and
Miao, Uyghur, Tujia, Yi, Mongol, Tibetan, Buyi, Dong, Yao, Rosalynn Carter Work Project in Sichuan. They worked on 16 hous-
Korean, and other nationalities 8.5% (2000 census) ing units spread over three apartment blocks in Qionglai city, about
LANGUAGES: Standard Chinese or Mandarin (Putonghua, 90 km., from the provincial capital Chengdu.
based on the Beijing dialect), Yue (Cantonese), Wu
(Shanghainese), Minbei (Fuzhou), Minnan (Hokkien-Tai- In September 2009, about 200 student, corporate and consulate
wanese), Xiang, Gan, Hakka dialects, minority languages. volunteers turned up at Hong Kong’s popular Victoria Park recently
RELIGIONS: Daoist (Taoist), Buddhist, Christian 3%-4%, to build five plastic brick “houses”. A further HK$80,000 (US$10,320)
Muslim 1%-2%. Officially atheist. (2002 est.) was also raised for the Carter Work Project in Sichuan from a
glove-painting activity for children and their parents.
LITERACY: 93.7% (2008)
URBANIZATION: 43% (2008) In September 2009, Hyundai Motors presented a US$150,000
POPULATION LIVING ON US$1.25 A DAY: 16% (2005)
donation to Habitat for post-earthquake reconstruction in China’s
Sichuan province. The check presentation took place after 110
ACCESS TO IMPROVED WATER SOURCES: 88% (2008) Korean university students supported by Hyundai completed a build
ACCESS TO IMPROVED SANITATION FACILITIES: 65% (2008) in earthquake-affected Yangping village, Xiaoyudong town.
In August 2009, Habitat’s Shanghai office hosted its first build in
Sources: CIA World Factbook, World Bank
Pinghu, Zhejiang, involving 117 volunteers.
In July 2009, Pepsi, who named actor/director Daniel Wu, one of
Habitat for Humanity China’s goodwill ambassadors, as its new
spokesman, donated 500,000 yuan (US$73,274) toward the construc-
tion of five houses in Sichuan, southwest China.
Hong Kong: 9/Floor, Gaylord Commercial Building, 118 Lockhart Road, Hong Kong movie star-singer Karen Mok and actor-director Daniel
Wan Chai, Hong Kong
Tel: +852 2520 4000/+852 2858 2099 Fax: +852 2858 2091/+852 2520 4020 Wu were high profile volunteers in February 2009 at Taizi village,
Email: enquiry@habitatchina.org Website: www.habitatchina.org where the first of 252 planned homes were being built after the
Sichuan earthquake. They were joined by a team of South Korean
Yunnan: Room A2, 18th Floor, Dantong Building, No.548 Baiyun Road,
Kunming, Yunnan, PRC 650024 student volunteers sponsored by Korea’s POSCO steel group.
Tel: +86 871 570 0282
Guangdong: Room 2212, Ming Yue Ge, Ming Yue 1 Lu, Yue Xiu, Guangzhou,
The Singapore Red Cross, Singapore-headquartered electronics
Guangdong, PRC 510600 maker Flextronics, Hong Kong Christian Council were among those
Tel: +86 20 8735 8926 funding post-earthquake rebuilding initiative in three communities
Guangxi: Room 1604, Xiang Ge Li La Jing Wan, No. 34 Xing Guang Da Dao,
in Xiaoyudong and Cifeng townships, Pengzhou, Sichuan.
Nanning, Guangxi, PRC 530031
Tel: +86 771 480 4214 A Habitat gala benefit in Hong Kong in September 2008 raised
Sichuan: Room B10, 25th floor, Block B, Times Digital Building, No. 1, Section HK$5.3 million (US$683,420) for work in Sichuan. Nearly HK$5
4, South Renmin Road, Chengdu, Sichuan, PRC 610041 million (US$639,510) raised in April 2007 went to support Habitat
Tel: +86 28 8631 7192/7193 in earthquake-affected Pakistan and elsewhere; in 2005, the event
Shanghai: Room 1007, No. 107 Si Nan Road, Shanghai, PRC 200025 raised HK$5.3 million (about US$680,000) for Habitat’s post-Indian
Tel : +86 21 6136 9196 Email: shanghai@habitatchina.org Ocean tsunami rebuilding program.
