Chinese philanthropy continues to grow from standing start

Chinese philanthropy continues to grow from standing start

News (International)

The top 10 Chinese philanthropists, as listed in the recently published 2010 Hurun Philanthropy List, gave a total of £1.36bn over the last five years. The list’s publisher, Rupert Hoogewerf, told Philanthropy UK, “Private wealth in China is all first generation, meaning that 25 years ago everything was owned by the state, so there was little or no room for philanthropy. It has only been in the past decade that the modern concept of philanthropy, where individuals fund charitable works, has arisen.”

China’s 50 top donors gave an average of £16.4m each in the last five years, eight times the figure recorded by the first Hurun Philanthropy List in 2004.

“The 2008 Earthquake marked the watershed for philanthropic donations in China, putting the topic firmly into the field of discussion,” continued Hoogewerf. “In the last year, for example, we have found three individuals who have donated $100m (£67m) or more.

“There is little social security in China, so I would expect philanthropy to grow more like in the US - there is still plenty of room for philanthropy to grow here in China.”

The 2010 Hurun Report Best of the Best Survey reported in January that Chinese entrepreneurs consider charitable donations to be the third most important way to demonstrate corporate social responsibility (CSR), after paying tax and environmental protection.

 


In the UK, last month’s Sunday Times Giving List showed that the top 100 philanthropists gave £2.5bn, a drop of £324m on the previous year. However, as these figures cover the year to April 2009, the 11.5% drop in giving has to be seen in the context of a 37% fall in the wealth of the very rich reported in the 2009 Sunday Times Rich List.

 

The 2010 Hurun Philanthropy List is available here.
 

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