China Shoto plc

                 ("China Shoto" or "the Company" or "the Group")

AIM-quoted China Shoto, China's largest producer of back-up lead acid batteries, has won the country's prestigious "National Environment-Friendly Enterprise" award, widely regarded as the nation's top environmental honour.

The award has been announced by the Environmental Protection Minister, Zhou Shengxian.

China Shoto's Executive Chairman Cao Guifa said: "We are delighted to have received this prestigious honour, which we believe reflects our determination to work within the limits of sustainable economics using our established excellence in technical design, low resource consumption, advanced process management, tight pollution controls and rigorous corporate social responsibility. We believe this underscores our position as a three-way winner in terms of environmental, social and economic benefits."

Last May, China Shoto reported a 2007 pre-tax profits increase of 58.7% to £7.15m on sales up 81%, to £107.5 million. It said it planned a steady advance into renewable energy industries to become a provider of environmentally-friendly energy systems. 

The company, which is already established as a leading supplier of power batteries and back-up batteries to China's booming telecoms market, has also supplied the 40 sets of super-capacitors currently being used to store power for solar-energy street lighting in the Olympic Village in Beijing.

It believes the completion of the Olympic contract will pave the way to future sales into the green energy economy.

The award of the "National Environment-Friendly Enterprise" honour was made by the National Environmental Protection General Bureau.