Actions of Solidarity
Back to Actions of SolidarityAll HSBC employees are following the COVID-19 outbreak with care and compassion.
On 29 January 2020, HSBC Group announced that its major entities in mainland China would jointly donate RMB7 million in total to battle the outbreak of novel coronavirus. Specifically, HSBC China and HSBC Life China would donate RMB5 million and RMB1 million respectively through China Social Welfare Foundation. HSBC Jintrust would donate RMB500,000 through Shanghai Asset Management Association. HSBC Qianhai Securities would donate RMB500,000 through Shenzhen Securities Association.
As the Group’s flagship in mainland China, HSBC Bank (China) Company Limited (short as “HSBC China”) would donate RMB5 million to provide relief support to the hard-hit Hubei Province, including RMB3 million in the form of medical supplies and test kits to Jingzhou, Tianmen and Suizhou and RMB2 million to China CDC for further developing the prevention and control mechanism of large-scale public epidemic emergency which would cover research, training and piloting programmes in the long term.
HSBC closely monitored the development of the COVID-19 outbreak. Upon learning the urgent need for medical supplies and test kits in hard-hit cities, HSBC China immediately reached out to its customers in the medical sector to search for medical supplies, including masks, gloves, isolation gowns and test kits. We purchased these supplies by following the procedures of China Social Welfare Foundation and delivered them to local hospitals as soon as possible.
Since 25 January, HSBC China has waived the commission fees of the remittances associated with donations and medical purchases, and raised the upper limits of the payment systems. Moreover, our employees also supported virus-hit regions through various channels and approaches to do their part for the joint fight against coronavirus.
HSBC has always been committed to the safety and well-being of our employees and customers. We have taken a number of measures to protect everyone at HSBC from the virus, including enhanced cleaning and disinfection of working areas and arranging remote working for some employees. In the meantime, we also urge all employees to be more serious about their personal hygiene and encourage them to stay home or go to the hospital when feeling unwell. The Bank also fully adheres to guidance on virus prevention and control from Chinese government authorities and regulators by rationalizing business hours for its outlets in an attempt to ensure safety and well-being of our customers and employees as well as minimal disruption to our service.