SHANGHAI, People’s Republic of China, October 16, 2003 -- The World Resources Institute (WRI) and Citigroup today named ten Chinese companies finalists for China’s first New Ventures Investor Forum, a competition aimed at accelerating investment in the country’s sustainable business enterprises.

The finalists, chosen from a field of 60 applicants, include producers of organic honey, food, and pesticides, waste recycling, mushrooms, biodegradable tablewares, testing products for genetically modified organisms, and packaging materials from wastes.

Three winners will be selected during the New Ventures Investor Forum in Shanghai on Oct. 21-22, 2003. Winners will receive advice from WRI and other partners on their business plans and the opportunity to present to potential investors attending the forum.

“We want to help China’s sustainable business entrepreneurs strengthen their business plans and find additional capital,” said Jonathan Lash, president of WRI and a member of the China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development. “Economic prosperity should not necessarily mean environmental degradation – in fact, investing in sustainable enterprises makes good business sense.”

Launched in Shanghai in 2002 by WRI and Citigroup, the New Ventures program was designed to address the need to support sustainable business following China’s heavy reliance on material- and energy-intensive production processes, which have depleted the country’s natural resources and increased environmental pollution.

“Clearly we cannot sustain economic growth using a business-as-usual approach,” said Richard Stanley, Country Officer of Citigroup China. “New Ventures is a proven strategy for investment which has been successful in regions like Latin America, and we anticipate similar success in China.”

The ten finalists are:

• Beijing Tiandisheng Organic Foods Company, which currently has sales of $2.3 million from organic foods;

• CongQing Jianbiao Biotechnology Company is the first in China to produce and market products to test the presence of genetically modified organisms in food;

• Green Circle Inc has been producing high-quality biodegradable tableware and food packaging products since 1999;

• King Vegetable Company in Heilongjiang Province has been producing high-quality organic mushroom snacks that are sold in northeastern China and abroad;

• Ruikang Company in Nanjing City produces and exports organic honey and is the largest producer of organic royal jelly in China;

• Sanyou, Inc. uses traditional Chinese medicine methods to gradually replace chemical-based pesticides and has trained 5,000 farmers to use their eco-friendly products;

• Sheng Chi Packaging Company produces shipping and construction materials from recycled wastes and renewable sources;

• Xincheng Tai Feng Company, based in Shaanxi Province, has developed an innovative method for recycling agricultural waste and converting them into useful commercial products;

• North Green Fertilizer Company received its ISO2002 certificate in 1996 and sells high quality fertilizer to domestic and international markets;

• Fengshun Company, founded in Liaoning province in 1999, treats raw waste and converts it into commercially-attractive products that are sold to the local markets. For example, the company converts waste generated by the restaurant industry into animal feed that is sold for raising fish, cows and pork.

Each finalist will make a presentation at the New Ventures Investor Forum, which will also include discussions on China’s investment landscape, market trends and opportunities. Speakers include Richard Stanley, country corporate officer for Citigroup China; Ye Dong, president of Tsinghua Venture Capital Co., Ltd.; and Nick Wood, external affairs director of Shell Companies in North Asia.

New Ventures China is sponsored by Citigroup, LEAD China, the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and WRI.

WRI started the New Ventures project in Latin America four years ago. Since then, it has facilitated the transfer of $6.5 million for seven companies (, mentored dozens of enterprises, and through partnerships with local business development and financial institutions supported of hundreds of entrepreneurs succeed.

The New Ventures Investor Forum will be preceded by WRI’s 2003 China BELL Conference, to be held Oct. 19-20, at Fudan University. The conference will be attended by professors from China’s top business schools and will feature the preview of China’s first textbooks on business sustainability and the environment.

For more information, contact:

World Resources Institute
Paul Mackie, senior media officer, +1(202)729-7684, pmackie@wri.org
In Shanghai:
Wang Li, Citigroup, +86-21-5879-1200 ext 6368, li.w.wang@citigroup.com