Integrity Reporting

The Group encourages employees, suppliers and other stakeholders to promptly report misconduct. A whistleblower can directly contact the supervisor, manager or department head of relevant service. If the matter reported involves the aforesaid personnel, the whistleblower may also choose to report directly to the Company’s Internal Control Department. A whistleblower can choose to report in real name or anonymously, and we promise that cases received in both ways will be treated equally. Since 2021, a new reporting channel – external independent legal counsel – has been available.

Upon receipt of a report, the Internal Control Department will launch an investigation with relevant responsible departments to confirm the authenticity of the reported matter. Once confirmed, the Internal Control Department will issue an investigation report and put forward handling suggestions. Then, the reported matter will be handled by relevant responsible departments and the Human Resources Department according to the investigation report, and the results and execution will be reported across the Company by the Internal Control Department or the Human Resources Department. On the other hand, the Group will also take disciplinary actions, including dismissal, against employees who make false and malicious reports.

Whistleblower Protection

The Group will keep the information of the whistleblower and the contents of the report strictly confidential. For real-name reporting, the identity of the whistleblower and the information that could be used to identify the whistleblower would be disclosed to assist with the investigation only with the written consent of the whistleblower and as permitted by law. For the reported content, the Group will restrict access to relevant information and de-identify the information when necessary. The external report recipient will comply with the attorney’s obligation of confidentiality stipulated in the Criminal Procedure Law and the Lawyers Law to ensure the confidentiality for both the contents of the report and the identity of the whistleblower.

In no event will the Group tolerate any retaliation against whistleblowers with good intention or persons involved in relevant investigation. Whistleblowers who believe they are ill-treated for whistle-blowing can report to the Internal Control Department. The Internal Control Department will adopt various approaches to protect whistleblowers, including but not limited to: investigating retaliation, monitoring and regulating other employees’ behaviours, allowing the whistleblower to change workplace, giving disciplinary sanctions against retaliators, notifying relevant law enforcement agencies in serious cases, and providing legal support for whistleblowers.

External Independent Legal Counsel: