Shiyu ZOU, China Business Representative of Berners Consulting GmbH, accepted the award on behalf of Brugger at the award gala on 16 September in Shanghai.

The jury for the award, which is presented by the German Chamber of Commerce Abroad in China and the German diplomatic missions in China, honoured the Black Forest-based SME for its long-standing engagement with Chinese suppliers. Since 2014, Brugger has been working closely with several Chinese suppliers of rare earth magnets to promote comprehensive sustainability of the companies and their respective supply chains. A particular challenge here is the strategic importance of the magnets' main ingredient: rare earths. This makes activities in the supply chains particularly sensitive. The Berners Consulting team designed and implemented the initial project and provides ongoing support to the suppliers.

In the two-year initial project, four suppliers were comprehensively trained in six aspects of entrepreneurially responsible corporate management and organisation. Based on this, improvement projects were carried out at the suppliers. The Institute for Environment, Health, and Safety at Nanjing University under the leadership of Dr. Shi WANG was in charge of the content. The project was funded by the develoPPP project of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development.

In her speech at the award ceremony, Ms Zou emphasised the relevance of corporate responsibility for the dynamic Chinese economy and the potential for China and Germany to cooperate constructively and at all levels on this important issue. She also pointed out the role of small and medium-sized enterprises, which can also be successful in partnerships with Chinese suppliers and customers through an entrepreneurially sustainable approach.

Brugger beat Volkswagen Automatic Transmission (Tianjin) Co., Ltd. and Siemens China in the final of the "Sustainable Supply Chains" category. A total of 51 projects were submitted in five categories.

For Brugger, this is already the second high-ranking award in a short period of time for the commitment supported by Berners Consulting: only at the end of 2020, the company won the Baden-Württemberg Environmental Award. In his award speech, Environment Minister Franz Untersteller praised Brugger's efforts to work towards a CO2-neutral supply chain and to make the experience gained here available to a broader professional public.

About Berners Consulting

Berners Consulting GmbH advises companies on cross-market activities in Europe and China. The experienced consulting team of management experts and engineers/technical experts in Germany and China supports the development of sustainable partnerships on sensitive issues.
www.bern ersconsulting.com

About the More than a Market Award

In 2015, AHK China launched the More than a Market initiative together with the Bertelsmann Foundation (until 2020) and with strong support from the German diplomatic missions in the People's Republic of China. The goals are to publicise the best CSR initiatives of German companies for Chinese society, to promote sustainable projects at companies through knowledge transfer regarding CSR, sustainability, diversity and inclusion, and to create a strong network of similarly thinking companies and reference groups on CSR activities. A special highlight is the annual presentation of the More than a Market Award in Shanghai.
www.morethanamarket.cn/zh/publications