About one in four people in the world is Chinese; 1.2 billion people live in China, a country in economic transition. Novo Nordisk operates in China because there is a growing market for our products here.

In the West, Novo Nordisk has been criticised for our presence in China. As part of the process of establishing a worldwide approach to human rights, we will be looking at our activities in China, as well as other countries, to analyse and identify dilemmas and problems.

In the meantime, five years after seriously engaging ourselves in China, we can now look back and ask ourselves: with our set of values and way of management, how do we handle establishing our company in China? In what ways are we a socially responsible citizen in Chinese society and how do we contribute to its enrichment? What can we learn from our experience here?

In trying to answer these questions, we will look at our activities in China under the three headings that form the framework of this social report.

Novo Nordisk (both Health Care and Enzyme Business) is represented in China with offices in Beijing, Tianjin, Shenyang, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Hong Kong and Wuhan. Furthermore, there are sales representatives in almost every province of China. Novo Nordisk owns (90% holding) an enzyme factory in Tianjin and has a majority stake in SuHong, an independent joint venture with the Hongda Group in Suzhou. Although we will not attempt to implement the Novo Nordisk Way of Management in the SuHong joint venture, Novo Nordisk management in China will strive to ensure that we follow rules and regulations and promote continuous improvement in working conditions and environmental performance at SuHong.

Our activities in China encompass all stages from research and development, through production, to marketing and sales. This section will focus on the two places which employ more than 50% of the total Novo Nordisk workforce in China: Beijing and Tianjin, but we will extend our social accounting to all our operations in China in future cycles.