11/3/10

China and its Charity Blue Book results

The Chinese Academy of Social Sciences concludes that China's charitable donations exceeded 4.9 billion dollars (33-billion yuan) in 2009, which represents a 3.5 percent increase from the year before.

That said, the country's generosity ranking is still near the bottom of the list of an international scale. Chinese philanthropists might be a little discouraged by the ranking, considering what they've done, as we are, in fact, seeing more and more Chinese making generous donations.

The blue book numbers also tie in giving with GDP, and China's charitable donations account for only 0.01% of the country's GDP, much lower than developed countries like Britain and the US.

Experts say the low percentage may partially have to do with China's underdeveloped donation system. And while China currently has 128 billionaires, second only to the US, the wealthy of China have emerged almost entirely within the past thirty years, so philanthropic practices that are entrenched in Americans and Europeans are still new to the Chinese.

The new China Charity Blue Book highlights Chinese real-estate tycoons, which account for 5 out of the top 10 donors, and real-estate companies accounting for 16 percent of all corporate donations. Among the reasons why: The real-estate industry is booming, and housing prices are high in China.

Source: CNTV

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