Friday, 3 December 2010, 12:10 HKT/SGT

Winners Manifest High Independence of Board, Sound Risk Management, and Commitment to Safeguarding Multi-stakeholders Interests

HONG KONG, Dec 3, 2010 - (ACN Newswire) - The winners of the Hong Kong Corporate Governance Excellence Awards 2010 will be honoured tonight at an Awards Gala Dinner in recognition of their exemplary standards of governance and commitment to uphold company values and stakeholders'rights.

The winners this year include both Hong Kong companies and State-owned enterprises, reflecting that good corporate governance has taken root in our market across a wide spectrum of companies with different backgrounds and size.

The winner are Esprit Holdings Ltd., Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd., and Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China, Ltd. in the Category of Hang Seng Index Constituents Companies; China Pacific Insurance (Group) Co. Ltd., in the Category of Hang Seng Composite Index Constituents Companies; the Link Real Estate Investment Trust in the Category of Other Main Board and GEM Board Companies. CSR Corporation Ltd. and Agricultural Bank of China Ltd., received an Honourable Mention respectively in the Category of Hang Seng Composite Index Companies and Category of Other Companies.

Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd. was further named the Overall Winner for its utmost quality and commitment to corporate governance amongst all winners.

The Honourable Mrs. Laura Cha, GBS, JP, Member of the Executive Council and Deputy Chairman of the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Ltd. was the Keynote Speaker at the event. Mrs. Cha delivered a keynote address emphasizing the role of corporate governance as the competitive edge of Hong Kong.
Dr. K.S. Lo, Chairman of CHKLC said: "As the Hong Kong market further diversifies with more international listings, investors ask for extra assurances about the security of their investments; regulators also step up their scrutiny. This makes a solid framework and practices of corporate governance all the more critical to all listed companies. Through organising the Hong Kong Corporate Governance Excellence Awards, the Chamber hopes to entrench the culture of corporate governance of our market and further strengthen its attractiveness to potential listed companies and investors, alike."

Dr. Anthony Neoh, Chairman of the Judging Panel of the Awards said: "The winning companies this year all manifest a strong, high-quality and empowered board with a high proportion of INEDs. Their internal control and risk management systems are fully-developed and they all show a strong appreciation of the need to balance the interests of different stakeholders with emphasis on the environmental and social performance of the company, in addition to economical."

Commenting on the performance of ICBC, the Overall Winner this year, Dr. Neoh said: "The Bank has made substantive strides in improving an already high quality system of corporate governance. The Panel believes that Bank has set an outstanding example in corporate governance, which should be duly recognized."

Hong Kong Corporate Governance Excellence Awards 2010 is sponsored by Ascent Partners Group Limited as Gold Sponsor, BDO as Bronze Sponsor. In addition, Hong Kong Economic Journal is Sole Chinese Media Sponsor; Metro Finance is Exclusive Radio Partner, irasia.com and Quam IR are Online Media Partners and finance.sina.com.cn is Exclusive Mainland Online Media Partner.

About the Hong Kong Corporate Governance Excellence Awards 2010

The Hong Kong Corporate Governance Excellence Awards are conferred annually since 2007 by the Chamber of Hong Kong Listed Companies and the Centre for Corporate Governance and Financial Policy, Hong Kong Baptist University.

The Awards aim to foster the highest standards in corporate governance, business ethics and board leadership in Hong Kong; recognize excellence; showcase best practices and accomplishments, and thereby promote a strong corporate governance culture.

The Award provides recognition and prestige for listed companies in achieving outstanding commitment to shareholder rights, compliance, integrity, fairness, responsibility, accountability, transparency, board independence & leadership, and corporate social responsibility.

For details of the Awards Programme, please visit www.chklc.org

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