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HNA Group Launches Global Partnership With The World Food Programme To Support Syrians In Need

BEIJING – A US$5 million global partnership to provide life-saving food assistance to Syrians in need has been announced by HNA Group and the World Food Programme (WFP). The contribution from the Chinese conglomerate will enable WFP to support vulnerable Syrians in Syria, Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan over a three-year period.

An agreement confirming the partnership between HNA Group and WFP was signed today in Beijing by WFP Executive Director David Beasley and Vice Chairman of HNA Group’s Board of Directors Li Xianhua.

“This contribution is additional confirmation of China’s longstanding commitment to helping people in Syria who have suffered so much and who continue to suffer because of the crisis in their country," said Beasley. “HNA Group’s leadership should service as an inspiration for others in the business community to join us in our quest for a world with zero hunger. WFP will continue to work to increase our cooperation with the public, private and government sectors so we can help more people.”

WFP will use the funds from HNA Group to provide school meals and take-home rations for displaced children in Syria, as well as electronic food vouchers to Syrian refugees in Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan.

“HNA Group is committed to using our global reach to improve child welfare, healthcare, education, and poverty alleviation around the world,” said Li Xianhua, Vice Chairman of HNA Group’s Board of Directors. “Our company’s three-year partnership with the World Food Programme enables us to leverage our resources in support of people in desperate need. We’re proud to work with our diversified portfolio companies to alleviate hunger in some of the parts of the world where it is most felt.”

HNA subsidiary companies aim to raise awareness about WFP and HNA’s hunger partnership among the people of China and those who visit the country. HNA Catering and Gategroup will print and distribute custom-made meal boxes on domestic and international flights within HNA Group's route network, which includes Hainan Airlines, Tianjin Airlines, Beijing Capital Airlines, and Fuzhou Airlines.

WFP and HNA Group began their strategic partnership in 2013 with an HNA contribution of US$1.6 million over five years in support of WFP’s school meals and take-home-rations programme for nearly 4,000 schoolgirls in Ghana, West Africa.

About WFP WFP is the world's largest humanitarian agency fighting hunger worldwide, delivering food assistance in emergencies and working with communities to improve nutrition and build resilience. Each year, WFP assists some 80 million people in around 80 countries.
On any given day, WFP has 5,000 trucks, 20 ships and 70 planes on the move, delivering food and other assistance to those in most need. WFP is funded entirely by donations from governments, companies and private individuals.
Follow us on Twitter @WFP_Media and on Weibo and Wechat: @联合国世界粮食计划署

For more information, please contact:
Yiwen Zhang, WFP/China, Tel. +86 10 85325228 ext.5309 Mob. +86 13601169994, Email: yiwen.zhang@wfp.org

About HNA Group HNA Group is a global Fortune 500 company focused on tourism, logistics and financial services. Since its founding in 1993, HNA Group has evolved from a regional airline based on Hainan Island in southern China into a global company with approximately $145 billion of assets, over $90 billion in annual revenues, and an international workforce of 410,000 employees, primarily across America, Europe and Asia. HNA's tourism business is a fast-growing, vertically-integrated global player with market-leading positions in aviation, hotels and travel services. HNA operates and invests in nearly 3,200 hotels with over 380,000 rooms across major markets, and has 1,250 aircraft carrying nearly 100 million passengers to 270 cities worldwide. HNA's Logistics business is a leader in logistics and supply chain management with capabilities in shipping and equipment manufacturing, maritime transportation, third-party payment platforms and project finance. In financial services, HNA is China's largest non-bank leasing company, and a leading provider of a diverse set of businesses in equipment leasing, insurance, asset management, investment banking and credit services. For more information, visit www.hnagroup.com.
For more information on HNA Group, contact:
Zach Gorin, Tel: 212.642.7721, Email: zachary.gorin@edelman.com