The China Harbor Engineering Company LTD (CHEC) has been renowned for its big role in building ports in China and some overseas infrastructure projects in the past decades, but this year it got its first award from a foreign government for environmental protection.

The government of Saudi Arab has issued it an award for equipment it adopted in a dredging project in the country to block polluted mud from seeping into the surrounding water.

It is also the first such award Chinese contractors have ever received from a foreign government. In the past, Chinese companies were mostly rewarded for building quality or friendship.

According to an expert, it is very difficult to prevent polluted water from entering into the surrounding waters during a dredging project, and hence, few countries had successfully done it. What the CHEC had done is practicing the principle of corporate social responsibility (CSR), he said.

China's top port builder has won numerous awards at home and abroad, but all the company's staff were very proud to receive the Saudi government prize, said Sun Ziyu, general manager of the CHEC.

CSR is a new concept for many Chinese firms, though it has been widely accepted in developed countries and by international companies worldwide.

Since the establishment in 2004 of the China Business Council for Sustainability Development (CBCSD), with members composing China's state-owned companies (SOEs) and international companies, more and more Chinese state firms have looked to international practices and tried to take greater social responsibility by participating in environmental, safety and other CSR programs.

In 2008, over 190 companies in China including SOEs and foreign-funded firms issued their annual CSR reports, comparing to a mere 19 in 2006, according to Wang Jiming, president of the prestigious non-government organization.

Among these reports, the one issued by China's flag-carrier shipping company COSCO Group looks more international and precise as it covers economic results, environmental efforts, products, labor relations, human rights, and social impacts.

Wei Jiafu, president of the COSCO Group, is one of the first Chinese SOE leaders who have adopted international practices to build a modern corporate system for his company.

Last month, three Chinese SOEs, namely China's State Grid, Sinopec and Sinopetro companies, appeared in the top 100 corporate citizens list of the American magazine Fortune. The State Grid Corporation ranked the 55th, comparing to the 69th a year ago, to become the best ranking Chinese company in the list, so far.