Protest turns to praise for foreign firms in China

BEIJING (Reuters) - For multinational companies doing business in China, the devastating earthquake that struck the country last week offers a chance to turn around their image after weeks of nationalistic anger directed at foreigners.

Scores of Western firms have contributed cash and goods to the aid effort following the 7.9 magnitude quake in the southwestern province of Sichuan, which killed more than 32,000 people and left millions homeless.

The list of donors reads like a Who's Who of global business: Citi said it would give up to 5 million yuan ($717,000), France's Suez has offered technical support and 1.6 million yuan and Pfizer said it would give up to 10 million yuan in medicines and cash, to name a few.

Their show of support has not been lost on Chinese consumers, some of whom just weeks ago were calling for a boycott of French and other foreign goods, angered by the anti-China protests that dogged the international leg of the Olympic torch relay.

The Paris torch parade in particular, during which protesters tried to snatch the flame away from a wheelchair-bound athlete, fuelled nationalist indignation in China.

"We really appreciate all the donations," Liu Xiaowei, a government worker, said outside a shopping mall in Beijing. "This is a good thing. After a disaster, all people want to express their sympathy."

The change in atmosphere may matter most to Carrefour, the French supermarket chain that bore the brunt of the anti-foreigner sentiment after Chinese bloggers accused it of supporting Tibetan independence, an allegation it denied.

The company said last Tuesday it had had several difficult weeks of business in China, but did not give details of the financial impact.

Carrefour was one of the first companies to pledge aid, giving 2 million yuan on the day of the quake and following up with another 1.22 million yuan in cash and goods.

The scene outside one of its Beijing stores nearly a week after the earthquake attests to the way in which the disaster and the response to it has helped clear up an atmosphere of distrust and blame.

Where angry protesters not long ago were denouncing the company and France, a mobile blood donation station now stands on the kerbside.

WHAT MOTIVES?

"This kind of thing definitely generates good feelings," said one of the workers manning the station, referring to a McDonald's water cooler next to his desk that he said the company had given.

"Helping out when others are in need -- that's very normal. We all need to chip in," said the man, surnamed Niu.

Many of the Western and Japanese firms that have contributed to relief efforts have joined their Chinese counterparts in taking out large advertisements in local newspapers to express their condolences and make known that they are helping.

A poster outside one of Beijing's plushest shopping malls, owned by foreign investors, pronounced its support for relief efforts and told shoppers how they could donate.

Some shoppers were skeptical about the outpouring of generosity by foreign firms, saying it was self-serving.

"They just want to gain back some of their market in China in order to make more money here," an anonymous post on an Olympics-related chatroom said of Carrefour's donation.

"We need to oppose French goods!" the post read.

But Carrefour and other foreign companies noted that they have long contributed money to humanitarian causes in China.

"This is our home. We live and work in China, and we give back to the community in time of need," said James Zimmerman, chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce in China, which has pledged 1 million yuan in addition to its members' donations.

Bi Shaoxin, who was leaving Carrefour with a cartload of drinks and snacks, said she did not agree with the anti-French protests over Tibet in April in the first place.

An employee of a French company in Beijing, she said she thought foreign firms, including Carrefour, were sincere in their help following the disaster.

"I think this shows that, after being in China for so long, they're bit by bit becoming China's Carrefour."

($1=7.99 yuan)

(Additional reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by John Chalmers)