There has been much discussion recently about the growing rich-poor divide in China . Whilst the causes of poverty remain highly complex, philanthropy plays an ever-increasing role in tackling the root of the problem and – particularly relevantly to today ' s China – is having a favourable impact on the image of wealth. China needs its entrepreneurs to create jobs and pay taxes. The numbers may still be small – last year only US$600 million was donated to charitable organizations compared with US$250 billion in the US – but the growth rate in philanthropic donations is explosive. Take a look at the change in the image of Bill Gates. At the age of 41 Gates started the process of giving it all away, as well as stating that he would only leave US$10 million to each of his children. Today, he has endowed his foundation with US$31 billion in donations, which spends more in annual disbursements on global health than the World Health Organisation. China needs philanthropists like Gates, role models to show the way.
Our third ranking of the most generous individuals – expanded this year to one hundred – highlights a surge in philanthropic giving and a maturing of the sector. Top is 84-year old Yu Pengnian with donations already made or pledged of US$250 million to cataract operations. The size of property tycoon Yu ' s donation is unprecedented in China, and would have ranked him amongst the top thirty of BusinessWeek ' s 2005 ranking of the top philanthropists in the US. “ It has been harder to give it away than to earn it in the first place, ” says Yu, whose biggest challenge now is to ensure his foundation executes according to his vision. Second is 38-year old Yang Lan, who has pledged 51% of her privately-held company to a private foundation based in Hong Kong with the mission of training China ' s nascent charity sector. Total donations of the Top 100 since 2003 amount to US$700 million, a remarkable 48% year on year increase.
There are a few things to bear in mind when talking about philanthropy in China : as little as twenty years ago, charities were to all intent and purpose redundant, since the state ran everything. As market forces began to take hold, so the charitable sector grew. The fact that state-owned companies give to charity at all demonstrates the striding forth of China ' s economy into a market economy. In the same way that entrepreneurs have been struggling to build sustainable businesses, so there is today a strong advocacy for sustainable giving, aimed at the root of the issue. “ Research shows that a Euro spent by the private sector is three times as efficient as the public sector, ” says Florian Langenscheidt, head of a German family-run publishing house. “ It is in the interest of the country to privatize sectors not deemed the direct responsibility of the government. ”
Corporate giving and corporate social responsibility
Topping our list of the most generous corporate givers are four Chinese from Hong Kong and one from Indonesia , led by the Li Ka-Shing Foundation (with donations of US$80 million to Mainland China since 2003), the Shaw Foundation and APP. The top domestic company is state-owned CNPC, China ' s largest corporate by sales, in sixth place.
Rich, richer, richest
The crown of‘Richest Person in China' has proved hotly contested in the past few weeks. HK and Nasdaq have created two new US Dollar multi-billionaires; one man, purported by state media to have up to US$6 billion, has been executed for murdering a business associate; the 33-year old darling for the top spot these past two years has seen his share price collapse by three quarters and the current number one is preparing to cash out a further US$900 million. These relate to Zhang Yin, perhaps the first woman to be number one of China , Shi Zhengrong, Yuan Baojing, Chen Tianqiao and Huang Guangyu. All will be revealed in October when we release the eighth China Rich List.
Revamped Singapore , misunderstood Malaysia
Our travel editor, Mica Quinn, continues her search for the ultimate travel experiences for China ' s rich, this time heading out to Singapore and Malaysia as well as interviewing KP Ho, founder of Banyan Tree, one of Asia ' s foremost luxury brands. In the fourth of our series of Special Reports on the Super Luxury of a region, Hurun Report is proud to continue providing its readers with exclusive interviews with some of the world ' s most powerful business people, including Laurent Dassault from France and Richard Branson from the UK .
Moscow , Dubai and now Shanghai
Luxury shows have been paying much attention to Shanghai . Shows such as Extravaganza, Top Marques, the China Boat Show and this month ' s Millionaire Fair are putting China ' s high-spenders on the map. At the end of November, Hurun Report is hosting the China Luxury Travel Fair ? in Shanghai designed to provide ultimate travel experiences for China ' s wealthy.
Keep reading the Hurun Report to know what is on the minds of China ' s entrepreneurs.
