Midea’s board of directors currently consists of 8 directors, including 3 independent directors; 1 of the 3 members of the supervisory committee is an employee supervisor; more than half of the directors of the special committees are independent directors; and the chairpersons of the audit committee, the remuneration and appraisal committee and the nomination committee are independent directors. Midea has always been committed to the development of transparent industrial chain management, and has built an industrial chain system that is transparent, safe, agile, remarkably cost-effective and sustainable. With a customer-oriented approach and the end-to-end connection through digitalization throughout the whole process, Midea vigorously promotes information sharing and joint improvement among industrial chains, and adheres to the concept of sustainability to integrate suppliers into its system of social responsibility management. Strictly following the laws, regulations, standards and codes of conduct related to occupational health and safety in related countries and regions to provide a safe and good environment for our employees, customers, contractors, suppliers and communities is one of the core policies of Midea in its routine production and operations. With the Safety Production Law of the People’s Republic of China, the Law of the People’s Republic of China on the Prevention and Control of Occupational Diseases, and relevant local laws and regulations as our firm guidelines, we aim to create an excellent EHS system with zero accidents, controllable risks, and full participation of all employees, and strive to make constant improvement and optimization on the existing basis.While establishing its own research centers around the world, Midea also works on constructing an open platform of innovative ecosystems. The Group cooperates with domestic and foreign scientific research institutions, such as Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of California, Berkeley, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Stanford University, Purdue University, University of Maryland, The University of Sheffield, Polytechnic University of Milan, Tsinghua University, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Zhejiang University, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Harbin Institute of Technology, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Huazhong University of Science and Technology and South China University of Technology, in order to establish joint labs for deepening technological cooperation. The Group also carries out strategic cooperation with tech giants such as BASF and Honeywell to build a global innovation ecosystem. Midea ranks No. 307 on the 2020 Fortune Global 500 list, moving up 174 places from its first presence on the list in 2016; and ranks No. 35 on the 2020 Fortune China 500 list, the highest-ranking among the home appli- ance industry in the country for six consecutive years. Also, Midea ranks No. 33 on the 2020 BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Chinese Brands list, with its brand value up 26%. Meanwhile, Midea takes the lead among do- mestic home appliance makers by ranking No. 29 on the 2020 Brand Finance Tech 100 list released by Brand Finance, a British brand assessment institution. Its brand value amounted to USD13.212 billion according to Brand Finance Global 500 2020—The Annual Report on the World’s Most Valuable and Strongest Brands.