Social Responsibility

Not a policy. A practice — built on personal relationships and direct accountability.

OUR APPROACH

We give directly. That's a deliberate choice.

Over the years, China Business Ltd and the Dattani family have supported a range of charitable causes across Hong Kong and India — contributing to organisations focused on children, the elderly, people with disabilities, and communities in need.

We started, as many do, by donating through established NGOs and international organisations. We quickly learned what many donors eventually discover: the distance between a donation and its intended beneficiary can be very long, and the leakage along that journey can be substantial. Funds absorbed by administration, fundraising costs, and overhead. Stocks of goods donated in kind sitting in warehouses far longer than any beneficiary would wait. Financial accounts, where they exist at all, sometimes showing accumulated investments that dwarf annual distributions.

We are not making a sweeping judgment about all charitable organisations — some do extraordinary work with genuine transparency. But our own experience taught us to be selective, and to prioritise giving where we can personally verify the outcome.

The same principle that guides our brokerage work guides our giving: deal directly with people you trust, and verify the result yourself.

Today, the majority of our giving flows through personal connections — people we know, who know the community they are serving, and who can tell us exactly what happened with what we provided. Sometimes that means T-shirts with the Dattani family name printed on them, distributed at a children's event. It means we were there, and people know it.

Hong Kong

Giving back to the city that has given us so much.

Hong Kong has been the Dattani family's and CBL's home since 1991. The community here — across cultures, faiths, and neighbourhoods — has been part of our story throughout.

Monthly Food Distribution — Sai Ying Pun — In conjunction with a local association, we participate in a monthly food distribution serving 100–150 recipients in the Sai Ying Pun area. The association provides rice boxes; we contribute drinks, fruit, and gift vouchers. Regular, practical, and local.

Hindu Temple — Langar — On selected Sundays, the Hindu temple in Hong Kong holds a community meal open to all. We contribute to the food preparation and distribution on some occasions.

Sikh Gurudwara — The Sikh tradition of langar — a free meal open to anyone, regardless of background — is something we have been glad to support more than once at the Gurudwara in Hong Kong.

SAGE Hong Kong — SAGE is our one formal, ongoing institutional commitment in Hong Kong — a monthly contribution to an organisation focused on the welfare of the elderly. We began our charitable giving in Hong Kong through several organisations; SAGE is where we have found consistent transparency and impact.

Monthly Food Distribution Sai Ying Pun

India

Roots in India — giving back where the family began.

The Dattani family's origins are in India, and that connection has never been purely historical. Charitable giving in India is channelled through personal relationships built over decades — connections that allow us to see directly where support is going and what it achieves.

Jana Kalyan Seva Ashram — Panvel — An ashram providing shelter, care, and support for the elderly and orphaned children. We contribute regularly — on occasions, T-shirts bearing the Dattani name, medicines for the ashram's residents and staff's medical needs. This connection runs through a close friend, Suresh Bala Iyer, who has a longstanding relationship with the ashram and personally ensures our contributions reach those for whom they are intended.

South Indian Welfare Association of Navi Mumbai — Drawing competition including prize-giving, food, and activity kits for children — supported through the same connection with Suresh Bala Iyer. The photograph on this page is from one such event: children proudly holding their certificates, many of them from families with very limited means.

Drawing Competition on Independence Day at SIWA

Dilkhush Welfare Society — A welfare organisation in Mumbai serving children with disabilities. We have contributed sports kits and T-shirts — practical items that Dilkhush can use directly in their programmes. This connection came through Sandeep Joshi, a childhood friend of the family and a former Air India staffer now involved in manufacturing sports uniforms and equipment.

Sports TShirt Dilkhush Society.

Ahmedabad — Charitable support in Ahmedabad was arranged through a childhood friend of the family's late patriarch — the late Batuk Vora — who organised local drives for which we covered costs directly.

Sewing Machine Donations at Ahmedabad

Rajkot — Support channelled through a family connection — the late aunt of Mrs. Dattani — who similarly arranged direct community giving in Rajkot.

Food for Needy during Covid-19

Ramkrishna Mission — A one-time contribution to this well-established charitable institution, whose work across education, healthcare, and relief in India needs no introduction.

Ramakrishan Mission for Covid-19 relieft work

Ethical Framework

Formal commitments — within our operations.

Beyond community giving, CBL's social responsibility commitments are embedded formally in our ISO 22000 certified Quality Management System, which includes:

• Ethical Trading Values Policy — governing how we conduct business with suppliers and buyers

• Labour Rights and Dignity at Work Policy — covering everyone involved in our operations and supply chain relationships

• Allergen and Continuing Product Guarantee Policies — protecting end consumers of the products we source

These are not aspirational statements. They are audited annually by SGS Hong Kong as part of our ISO 22000 certification process.

Looking Ahead

A thought about what comes next.

We are aware of the limitations of informal giving — however carefully directed. There is only so much that personal connections can distribute, and the logistics of in-kind contributions become complicated at scale. NGOs that accept goods in kind sometimes hold more stock than they can distribute in years. Cash donations, without careful oversight, carry their own risks.

We have considered whether the right next step might be to establish a small registered charitable foundation — one that could formalise what we already do, provide receipts for contributors, and create a transparent structure for both giving and distribution. That conversation is ongoing within the family.

What we are certain of is that whatever form it takes, direct accountability to actual beneficiaries will remain the standard. Certificates and annual reports are not a substitute for knowing that the people you intended to help were actually helped.