China Minmetals Corporation, the state-owned metals and minerals trader, was described as a model for the country's SOEs at the release of its 2008 Sustainability Report in Beijing Wednesday.

The report highlighted the company's good causes, energy efficiency and safety record according to international "sustainability" guidelines.

Peng Huagang, of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC), said at the report's launch, "China Minmetals built a special sector for social responsibility last year, setting a good example for the state-owned enterprises (SOEs)."

Minmetals donated 41.7 million yuan to areas hit by the May 12 earthquake and 3 million yuan to areas affected by the severe winter weather early last year. It also gave 1 million yuan to support the 2008 Paralympic Games.

The group reported 40 accidents, down 23.1 percent year on year, with four dead and 38 injured in 2008.

It reduced its energy consumption by 13.1 percent to 1.8 million tonnes of standard coal from 2.1 million tonnes of 2007, said the report.

It also contained revised annual figures showing an 18.7-percent rise in revenue for 2008 to 184.6 billion yuan (27.03 billion U.S. dollars) with 6.5 billion yuan in net profits.

The report was compiled according to the Global Reporting Initiative Sustainability Reporting Guidelines (2006) and verified by Det Norske Veritas (DNV), a classification agency, following "DNV Assurance Protocol for Sustainability Reporting."

The 2008 Sustainability Report was Minmetals' second of its kind. The first report was released in September last year.