In China, companies are required by society to promote CSR based on government policy, for example, by formulating CSR initiative policies and evaluation indicators, and by publishing CSR evaluation rankings.

In 2021, we newly established the Corporate Conduct Committee across Ito-Yokado (China) Investment Co., Ltd., Chengdu Ito-Yokado, and Hua Tang Yokado Commercial, to promote CSR activities. The Corporate Conduct Committee aims to implement corporate behavior that esteems corporate ethics and to fulfill the CSR required by society, while at the same time building an organizational structure that horizontally links the operating companies with a view to the entire China business, to thereby drive development and growth throughout the China business. Going forward, we will share our know-how through management of our organization and promote the growth of both the company and of individuals through human resources training.

In 2023, the Corporate Conduct Committee evolved into the CSR Management Committee, which shared the seven material issues to be addressed by the Group through online and offline communication meetings. With the cooperation of our business partners, we are continuing to implement initiatives that contribute to the development of a sustainable society and give rise to new corporate values through bidirectional events with our customers.

Chengdu Ito-Yokado has published a report annually since its first CSR Report, which summarizes its social and environmental initiatives, in July 2016. In preparing the report, we refer to various indicators in the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), SDGs, and ESG, with a comparison table on each included at the end of the report.

The Sustainability Report for 2023, published in October 2023, was distributed to attendees of the Sichuan CSR Report Presentation and conferences for the private sector, and was also provided to the China Federation of Industry and Economy, the Ministry of Industry and Credit, the State Resources Commission, and other administrative agencies for their use.

Chengdu Ito-Yokado is committed to providing safe and secure products to customers, and has consolidated on “organizational structural, management, and educational fronts,” particularly regarding food safety management. It has instituted a dedicated food safety team apparatus from headquarters to stores to enhance product management, visualize quality, manage traceability, and ensure quality of safety.

Hua Tang Yokado Commercial holds quality control training for employees in the food sales floor four times each year and strictly adheres to quality control standards. In addition, the company conducts regular inspections of facilities and equipment, sanitation management processes, and quality management system for employees, on the sales floor and backrooms. The sales floor and backroom are regularly sanitized at our own initiative, as part of efforts to provide customers with a safe and secure shopping environment.

Since 2013, Chengdu Ito-Yokado has established a food traceability system in cooperation with producers to disclose product information to customers. Chengdu Ito-Yokado independently developed "看得見的放心" and manages the quality of its products. 看得見的放心 has the same concept as "Traceable Fresh Food with Producers' Faces" sold in Japan with many customers endorsing these as safe and secure products.

As of 2023, the number of 看得见的放心 items sold is 557, with sales volume having reached 1.53 million units and revenues of 500 million yen. In 2023, 209 new items were developed and the number of production sites expanded to 22 (Wuchang, Xinjiang, Guangyua, Shaanxi, Leibo, Shandong, Hanyuan, Korla, Chengdu, Pidu, Anyue, Jianyang, Leshan, Guangxi, Liaoning, etc.). The producing region for the看得见的放心Akizuki pear is in Laiyang, Shandong Province, which is renowned as a pear-growing region in China. The fruit is soft in texture with the perfect balance of sourness and juiciness, making it popular with many customers. The 看得見的放心 Shaanxi winter jujube from Shaanxi Province is also highly rated by many customers for its refreshing taste and moderate sweetness.

From November 2022, Chengdu Ito-Yokado established a “Food Safety General Supervisors System” based on national regulations, and formulated management parameters for “daily management, weekly audits, and monthly schedules” at stores and the Administration Division. In addition, in 2023, it established a management system involving food safety first supervisors, food safety superintendents, and food safety staff in stores, and has since May of that year performed special monthly food safety inspection and implemented training with invited specialists.

Chengdu Ito-Yokado has continued to conduct public recruitment of “Citizen Quality Supervisors” since 2008 to improve its products and stores in line with customer standards. In 2023, 296 comments were fielded and improvement activities undertaken.

Chengdu Ito-Yokado supports education and assists households in receipt of welfare benefits. For example, since FY2007, we have selected four elementary schools in underprivileged areas and donated necessary equipment to improve school facilities and equipment. We donated stationery, teaching materials, and sports equipment to disadvantaged children in response to the schools' requests. Furthermore, every year, we provide scholarships to outstanding students in the Sichuan University Japanese Department and encourage their studies. Initiatives to build bridges for exchange between China and Japan marked their 26th anniversary in 2023.

On September 6, 2023, Chengdu Ito-Yokado hosted a certification ceremony for the Qionglai Daozuo Youai Elementary School “Mobile Children’s Palace Project.” Qionglai Daozuo Youai Elementary School’s involvement represents the third initiative of the Chengdu Next Generation Foundation’s Mobile Children’s Palace Project. The project is scheduled to run from September 2023 to December 2026 with four specialized courses for out-of-school children being offered in dance, art, music, and basketball. Future activities are planned to develop the potential of pupils and contribute to the local community.

Chengdu Ito-Yokado has invited our employees and customers to participate in the project, with 67 people (40 employees and 27 customers) having participated and a total of 301 books (176 by employees and 125 by customers) donated to date.

In June 2009, the Chengdu Ito-Yokado Volunteer Team was established to facilitate improved contributions to the local community. On the third Wednesday of every month, employees from each store participate in clean-up activities around these stores. In addition, the “White Doves Fly” volunteer team, consisting of a total of 34 volunteers, engaged in volunteer activities at each store to coincide with the hosting in Chengdu of the 31st Universiade.

At Hua Tang Yokado, employees take the initiative in beautifying public facilities and spaces by making clean-up activities a daily routine.

Ito-Yokado in China has actively promoted local employees since the opening of their stores in the country in order to create stores that are rooted in the local community, and Chinese staff are still playing an active role in each store. The percentage of Chinese employees (excluding directors) in management positions is 98.6% at Chengdu Ito-Yokado and 96% at Hua Tang Yokado Commercial, with local employees basically running the company. The same applies for stores in regional cities (including Leshan stores).

We also actively promote women employees. The percentage of women in executive positions is 59.2% at Chengdu Ito-Yokado, and three of its nine stores have female store managers. The percentage of female managers at Hua Tang Yokado is 48% (excluding directors), and the store manager of the Asian Village store is also a woman.

At the Chengdu Ito-Yokado and Hua Tang Yokado Commercial stores, since the fiscal year ended February 28, 2021, we have poured our energies into reducing the volume of plastic being used. The stores jointly switched over to using shopping bags that are made of degradable plastic. In addition, to eliminate the use of store-supplied shopping bags, we are also focusing on the sales of eco-bags.

Chengdu Ito-Yokado also actively engaged in social dissemination activities for sustainability in 2023, training all employees in the basics of the SDGs while developing customer-participation activities to communicate these initiatives to society. Training to deepen understanding among all employees was implemented in July and September 2023. A total of 12 sessions were held at the Administration Division and stores, with a total of 525 employees participating.

Chengdu Ito-Yokado has been developing a workplace environment where our employees can thrive, rooted in the basic principles of “fairness, justice, competition, and selecting for excellence,” so that our employees can grow further. We have also been proactively engaged in human resource development, and in the fiscal year ended February 28, 2023, launched our “Internal Competitive Recruitment System.” We regularly recruit store supervisor and assistant supervisor personnel, with both persons who recommend themselves and those who are recommended by others eligible to apply. Applicants describe the work that they are doing, and we appoint those applicants who received the most votes from among those employees who received positive evaluations from 51% or more of employee examiners. We also recruit department managers at headquarters and more senior staff on an irregular basis. They explain and discuss their work, and we select those applicants who were graded the highest by our job recruitment committee. We have adopted a system whereby the employees thus selected perform their duties on an interim basis for six months; have their work reevaluated based on internal standards at the end of this period; and are then officially appointed to their positions once they have passed this evaluation. Four recruitment drives took place in the fiscal year ended February 29, 2024, and 36 persons applied. One passed the exam, and three appointed candidates for executive training.

Chengdu Ito-Yokado and Hua Tang Yokado Commercial provide training programs to help employees manifest their potential and exercise their abilities to the maximum.

On March 21, 2023, Chengdu Ito-Yokado established the Chengdu Ito-Yokado Human Resource Development Center to facilitate the handing down and communication of our corporate culture and principles as well as to establish and nurture higher-level professional skills and development teams. With the development of the company, the industry, and society as its goal, the center undertakes continuous initiatives to create motivational workplace environments. These initiatives are undertaken toward our aim of becoming a growth-oriented organization through the building of foundations, in-house training, cooperation with specialized universities, as well as mutual complementation, co-creation, and development.

Hua Tang Yokado Commercial is endeavoring to supply educational content relating to the corporate creed and management philosophy, on-site employee support, and customer service as well as to deliver top-quality products and services to customers. By commending staff (meaning not only regular employees but all store staff, including partner company employees, tenant employees, cleaners, and security guards) who receive words of praise from customers in plenary meetings, it seeks to elevate the feeling of togetherness and engagement among staff.

Chengdu Ito-Yokado has adopted an online and offline training format in undertaking initiatives to develop distinctive programs, while striving for improvements in corporate culture and work, management, and leadership capabilities. A total of 9,085 employees took part in training over the fiscal year ended February 29, 2024.

Chengdu Ito-Yokado has introduced training methods aligned to changes in the times to facilitate the passing on and instilling of the company’s basic philosophy. In the fiscal year ended February 29, 2024, the company continued to provide online education and training for the acquisition of knowledge of corporate culture and corporate strategy, as well as work skills. An aggregate total of 38,620 persons, including both Head Office and store staff, took the courses.

As Chengdu Ito-Yokado's first low-carbon project, the company has since 2020 maintained an environmental philosophy of “respect for nature, adaptation to nature, and protection of nature,” including continuous projects for the separation of resource garbage, the development of environmental infrastructure, and waste collection. In the fiscal year ended February 29, 2024, it invested 40 million yen in the conversion to LED equipment for store lighting and the renovation of its cold chain, while reducing food and household waste by 3,201 tons combined, recyclable waste by 878 tons, and annual carbon emissions by 3,100 tons.

Hua Tang Yokado Commercial is making efforts to properly operate the air-conditioning system that manages store temperature. By adjusting operating times and air-conditioned areas as necessary in response to weather and temperature changes, it reduces gas and electricity usage. In addition, it requests the facility administrator to carry out the detailed measurement of in-store temperature and, in response to temperature changes, adjusts the operating patterns of the air-conditioning equipment. Furthermore, Hua Tang Yokado Commercial is striving to curtail electricity usage. Among other things, it has introduced energy-saving lighting equipment at all store sales floors and has reduced backroom lighting usage by 50%. Nevertheless, in the fiscal year ended February 29, 2024, the overall energy, electricity, gas, and water consumption of the entire store increased due to the increase in the number of restaurants and tenant stores accompanying store renovation. Going forward, with the cooperation of each tenant in the store, efforts will be made to reduce energy usage in the entire store.