Charitable acts on the rise (China Daily/Hurun Report) Updated: 2006-04-14 09:21
Young or old, charity is a common undertaking of China's rich that is,
according to a newly released philanthropy report.
According to the 2006
China Philanthropists List of the Hurun Report published yesterday, which names
the top 100 Chinese donors, the age bracket of benefactors this year has
enlarged since last year, when the youngest was 32 and the oldest
83.
This year, Shenzhen entrepreneur Yu Pengnian, 84, became the oldest
and the most generous man in China by donating 2 billion yuan (US$250 million)
since 2003, mainly to the health and higher education sectors.
The
youngest went to Ruan Tiejun, 31, who ranked 68th by donating 10.2 million yuan
(US$1.3 million).
The average age stands at 48, unchanged since last
year.
The report shows most of the donations go to education, health and
other public welfare sectors, while natural disasters are also making the rich
open their wallets.
Briton Rupert Hoogewerf, who compiled the list, said
news of the donations will serve to draw more attention from society to the
needy, and even influence the government's decision-making.
The majority
of the contributors are from eastern and southern China, where the non-State
owned economy is most active, the report showed. About 50 donors are engaged in
the real estate sector, a prosperous industry in China in recent
years.
Some billionaires, such as Lu Guanqiu, a Zhejiang private
entrepreneur, and Lou Zhongfu, chairman of the Board of Guangsha Construction
Group, wished to remain discreet about their contributions, while some newly
wealthy have yet to cast their eyes upon the goodwill industry, the report
said.
For instance, the combined donations from the top four on a list of
China's richest, compiled by the Hurun Report, was no more than 40 million yuan
(US$5 million), an amount with which an individual could only rank 17th in the
2006 Chinese Philanthropists List.
The Hurun Report also released a China
Corporate Givers List this year, containing 50 domestic and multinational
enterprises and private foundations, which contributed a total of 4.1 billion
yuan (US$5 billion) since 2003.
Private foundations of overseas Chinese
held the top five places. Four came from Hong Kong, led by the Li Ka-Shing
Foundation, which donated 670 million yuan (US$80 million) since 2003.
(For more biz stories, please visit Industry Updates) |