ZHENGZHOU - Wuxi has topped the list of the most charitable Chinese cities in terms of government support, which was released on Friday by the China Charity & Donation Information Center during a conference in central China's Henan province.

Wuxi in east China's Jiangsu province was placed highest in the list of 50 cities, which measured their financial support, policies, and mechanism innovation related to philanthropy.

Beijing and Suining, in southwest China's Sichuan province, were placed second equal.

Peng Jianmei, director of the China Charity & Donation Information Center, said the rank aimed to reflect the charitable efforts of city governments and to partially unveil the philanthropy development in Chinese cities.

"Generally speaking, philanthropy in Chinese cities lags behind, with the most charitable groups limited in delivering social assistance," said Peng.

Peng hoped the local governments in China could give more power to non-governmental charitable organizations and let them play a bigger role.

The rank was part of a city philanthropy index that assessed cities' donations, charitable organizations, charitable projects, volunteer services, financial support, and charitable environment from 2008 to 2009.