Saudi Basic Industries SJSC : SABIC PARTNERS WITH JA TO CULTIVATE NEXT GENERATION LEADERS IN SUSTAINABILITY THROUGH ITS SIGNATURE LIGHTS OF OUR FUTURE CSR PROGRAM IN CHINA

Shanghai, China, May 26, 2017 - SABIC, a global leader in diversified chemicals, is co-hosting the Lights of Our Future Sustainable School Design Competition today with JA China, the Chinese chapter of the world's largest non-profit organization Junior Achievement focussing on educating students on work readiness, entrepreneurship and financial literacy.

Over 100 students, teachers, SABIC volunteers and external guests participated in the competition today, held at SABIC Technology Center (STC) in Shanghai. Ten teams, comprising 50 students from two local middle schools, No.4 Middle School Affiliated to East China Normal University and Shanghai Tangzhen Middle School, competed to present the best sustainability solution to tackle sustainability challenges for their respective schools.

After a heated contest and several rounds of deliberation by the judging panel, Team Green World from No.4 Middle School Affiliated to East China Normal University and Team Solar Power Unlimited from No.4 Middle School Affiliated to East China Normal University emerged champions for their school waste reduction plan and solar power combination plan. The judging panel included Dr An Yuxian, Director of Global Technology Centers, Northeast Asia, SABIC; Linda Jin, Director of Human Resources, Greater China, SABIC; Zhang Lan, Senior Manager, Program and Development, JA China; Han Lifen, Chief of School Curriculum Research Center, Huangpu Education College; Zhao Dongyun, Researcher, Extension-Curriculum of Junior Middle School, Hong Kou Teachers Training College; and Jin Ying, Researcher, Shanghai Jingan Education College.

With the mentorship of SABIC volunteers in the past month, the teams also showcased their solutions on posters at STC Shanghai earlier this week, for SABIC Shanghai-based employees to vote for their favorited solution among presented entries. The resultant Most Popular Award went to Team Water Accumulation from No.4 Middle School Affiliated to East China Normal University.

'SABIC has been advocating sustainability in China for many years,' said Dr An Yuxian, Director of Global Technology Centers, Northeast Asia, SABIC and one of the judges. 'The students have displayed tremendous creativity and I am truly impressed with the solutions they have come up with to tackle the sustainability challenges they face today. At SABIC, we believe in creating 'Chemistry That Matters™'. This is why we feel that it is important to instil the value of sustainability into the mind-sets of our next generation of leaders. We are therefore very happy to partner with JA China in educating our youths on this subject.'

The competition is the finale event of this year's JA Lights of Our Future, a program designed by SABIC and JA China for students in grades 6-7. Prior to the competition, six modules on sustainability were taught by 98 SABIC volunteers to the students in the classrooms, where they learnt about sustainable development from both environmental and economic perspectives and how they may embrace the concept of sustainability in their daily lives. The modules were meticulously designed to maximize experiential learning through role-play, scenario simulation and group activities. Following the success of this pilot program, SABIC and JA China are exploring how they could bring the program to more schools in Shanghai and other cities in China.

'This program enables students to put what they had learned in class to practice,' said Yueping Bai, Principal of Tangzhen Middle School. 'We hope our next generation would use what they have learned to make better decisions in the future, especially when confronted with difficult choices between short term gains and long term benefits.'

'Our business volunteers have brought real-life case studies into the classrooms and showed us how we could strike a balance between environmental versus economic benefit,' said Judy Wu, JA China's Senior Director of Program and Development. 'The program is designed not only to raise awareness on sustainability, but to also instil critical thinking, data-processing, problem-solving and presentation skills in students, which serves JA China's mission of cultivating leadership, creativity and character in the young people of China.'

SABIC's global signature CSR program - Lights of Our Future - was piloted in 2014 in China. Through this bespoke CSR program, SABIC seeks to create a positive and lasting impact on youths and communities around on the subject of sustainability while inspiring creative and innovative thinking in environmental protection and care. To date, SABIC has engaged more than 600 students between 12 to 28 years old in China through 157 SABIC employee volunteers who had devoted over 1,500 hours into the program and developed over 95 pages of content on sustainable living for the program.

Lights of Our Future Sustainable School Design Competition

Team Green World presenting their solution onsite

Team Solar Power Unlimited presenting their solution onsite