On May 12th, a rare 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck Wenchuan County in Sichuan Province caused ruins, heavy casualties and infrastructure damages in 8 provinces in China. On hearing about this disaster, management and staff of Reed Exhibitions Greater China were shocked and agonized. Reed Exhibitions and Reed Elsevier through its many offices and businesses around the world were similarly saddened and sympathized with the plight and grief of the ten of thousands of victims.

Preecha S. Chen, President of Reed Exhibitions Greater China announced on May 16th that the company would commit to donating RMB one million to China Red Cross, collectively from donations from our Chinese and expatriate staffs as well as donations at the company level from both our own offices and through our Chinese JVs, which includes Reed Sinopharm, Reed Huayin and Reed Huabo.

Preecha said, "Reed Exhibitions started its business in China as early as in 1980s. Reed not only considers China as one of the most important markets, but has also developed deep and sincere emotional ties to the Chinese people. We, the Reed Exhibitions staff, empathize with those that have lost their homes and love ones in the recent devastating earthquake, and share their weal and woe. We express our sincere and profound condolence to the victims and send our best regards to the relief teams and troops that are making painstaking efforts at the very forefront.

Love goes beyond boundaries. Reed Exhibitions commits to donating one million RMB to aid the people in the quake-hit areas. We believe that under the strong leadership of the Chinese government and with the concerted support from all circles in China, the Chinese people will conquer the sorrow and step out of the shadow caused by the disaster and re-build their homelands in the near future."