- Hyundai Motor, an environment group and the Chinese government sign agreement to prevent desertification in Inner Mongolia
- Hyundai’s first Global CSR Environment project
- Group to create grasslands of 50 sq. km in the Kunshantag desert by 2012
- Project may significantly improve northeast Asia’s environmental issues linked to yellow sand
- Hyundai Motor carrying out social responsibilities; plans to continuously expand projects in future

SEOUL, Korea, April 24, 2008 - Hyundai Motor Company, one of Asia’s leading automotive manufacturers, will convert China’s deserts into grassland as its first global environment project.

Hyundai Motor Co. will create a 50 square km prairie at Chakanor, an area within the Kunshantag desert in Inner Mongolia, China, by 2012. Through this project, part of the company’s ‘Hyundai Green Zone’ project, Hyundai Motor hopes to prevent desertification and revive the local ecosystem to contribute to saving the environment.

The ‘Hyundai Green Zone’ project is part of the company’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities for the environment.

Hyundai Motor Co. and the Korean Federation for Environmental Movement (KFEM) will lead the project, while the Chinese central government, Inner Mongolia’s regional government and a local Non-governmental Organization will also participate. The signing ceremony was held on April 23 at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Beijing with over 150 guests attending, including government officials from both South Korea and China, Hyundai Motor officials and the Chinese NGO members.

“The increase in desertification in China is not only destroying the local ecosystem, but is causing serious environmental problems with its yellow sand, which affects the entire Northeast Asian region, including Korea,” said Hsueh Yung Hsing, vice chairman of Hyundai-Kia China Business. “Environmental issues today are no longer confined within borders. They need to be approached as a planetary issue. Hyundai Motor decided to participate in this project to fulfil its responsibilities as a global company.”

The area to be revived is about 660 kilometers north of Beijing, which is the main area that creates yellow sand affecting the northern part of China and Korea. The area is 1,000 meters above sea level and has an average rainfall of only 200-400 mm a year. It’s an area that used to consist of plentiful grasslands, but is now experiencing rapid desertification.

Hyundai Motor and the KFEM will plant local flora that grows well in the alkali soil to naturally revive the area’s ecosystem.

Hyundai Motor will continue to select joint global and regionally-friendly CSR activities through its projects such as the ‘Hyundai Green Zone’ and ‘Happy Move Global Young Volunteers’.

Yellow Sand
Also called Asian dust/yellow dust/yellow wind/China dust storms, is a seasonal meteorological phenomenon which affects much of East Asia sporadically during the springtime months. The dust originates in the deserts of Mongolia and northern China and Kazakhstan where high-speed surface winds and intense dust storms kick up dense clouds of fine, dry soil particles. In the last decade or so, it has become a serious problem due to the increase of industrial pollutants contained in the dust and intensified desertification in China causing longer and more frequent occurrences.

Established in 1967, Hyundai Motor Co. has grown into the Hyundai-Kia Automotive Group which was ranked as the world’s sixth largest automaker in 2006 and includes over two dozen auto-related subsidiaries and affiliates. Employing over 75,000 people worldwide, Hyundai Motor posted sales of US$74.9 billion in 2007 on a consolidated-basis and US$32.8 billion on a non-consolidated basis (using the average currency exchange of 929 won per US dollar). Hyundai vehicles are sold in 193 countries through some 6,000 dealerships and showrooms. Further information about Hyundai Motor Co. and its products is available at http://www.hyundai-motor.com

###