The French retail giant Carrefour will donate one million euros over the next three years to build schools in China's poorer regions, a senior company official said on Tuesday.

 

Jean-Luc Chereau, president of Carrefour China, made the pledge when he signed an agreement with local government to fund the Dayi Hope Elementary School, the first of its kind, in Chengdu, capital of southwestern Sichuan Province.

 

He said the funds from the Carrefour International Foundation would help build schools in more than 30 cities in the provinces of Sichuan, Yunnan and Shanxi.

 

"We hope our efforts will ensure that more children in China's central and western regions can go to school," he said.

 

Since its establishment in 2000 the foundation has donated over two million yuan (US$256,000) for the medical treatment of cataract sufferers and the prevention of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in China.

 

(Xinhua News Agency January 10, 2007)