On April 11, Ting Hsin International Group, a major Chinese food and beverage producer, once again received the China Charity Award, the highest governmental award for charitable undertakings in the country.

The group, which owns Tingyi (Cayman Islands) Holding Corp. as well as the well-established Master Kong brand name, won "Most Charitable Corporate Donor", in honor of its prominent philanthropic efforts in 2011, for the fourth time, placing the company at the number one spot, not even to be matched by enterprises from Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan. It's also the only Taiwan-invested company to win the award this year.

The group's charitable donations over the past years, come to well over 400 million yuan (US$63.5 million). In 2010, the group set up a charitable foundation with an input of 20 million yuan (US$3.2 million) for Project Hope schools, scholarships, disaster relief and cross-strait cultural exchanges.

Ting Hsin, which has been investing on the Chinese mainland since 1988, has established a business empire in various areas, including food processing, catering, retail, logistics and real estate.

The award was presented to 20 individuals, 20 organizations, 20 projects and 40 companies. During the one-week public voting period, over seven million Internet users casted their online vote.

The award was developed by the Ministry of Civil Affairs in 2005, in order to recognize outstanding corporate social responsibility (CSR). It honors companies, organizations and individuals who have made extraordinary contributions to national charity efforts.