The fundraiser show opener

Over 40 million yuan was donated by Tianjin to a televised fundraiser on Thursday for victims of Typhoon Morakot, Taiwan's deadliest typhoon in half a century. The charity show, filmed in Beijing, was organized by six TV stations on the Chinese mainland including Shanghai-based Dragon TV and Tianjin TV.

Donations came from concerned citizens and big name companies like Tianjin’s TEDA Holding Co, based in the Binhai New Area, which donated 5 million yuan.

Zhang Xiangqing, president of Tianjin Rockcheck Steel Group Co, and his wife Zhang Ronghua, general manager of the group, donated 5 million yuan on top of 2 million yuan donated by their group.

The couple previously donated 100 million yuan to quake-hit Sichuan province in 2008.

The more than four hour fundraiser raised over 310 million yuan.

Nearly 100 stars from the mainland, Taiwan and Hong Kong, including a number of big names in the entertainment and sports industries, were in the show.

Taiwan was hit by Typhoon Morakot on August 7. As of noon Wednesday, 136 people were confirmed dead, 45 injured and 386 missing. The death toll does not include the 523 people who were buried under mudslides in two villages.

By Guo Changdong