Charity on the rise – Paul French – China Speakers Bureau

Paul French
by Fons1 via FlickrPhilanthropy is making headway into China, writes China-consultant Paul French in Ethical Corporation. China’s rich are more confident and start to give more of their wealth to charity.

Philanthropy, charity, donating … these are all new words in China. Last year business magazine Forbes announced that it was cancelling its list of China’s top philanthropists. This was “mainly due to the immaturity of the charity sector” and many rich people’s “unwillingness to have their wealth disclosed and their names published”. The new rich of China had started to donate money but did not want it made public.

That has all changed after the earthquake in Sichuan, French writes, making the sector into a multi billion business (that is in renminbi, of course). He quotes Rupert Hoogewerf, an authority on China’s rich and their spending habits:

In the new China, high profile charity is often linked to personalities – they now want people to know they are giving. Rupert Hoogewerf, who compiles the Hurun Philanthropy List in Shanghai, notes that “more and more wealthy people are setting up their own charitable funds, and the whole of society is paying more attention to charity”. His list draws on a survey covering 2,500 entrepreneurs on the Chinese mainland.

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Both Rupert Hoogewerf and Paul French are speakers at the China Speakers Bureau. If you are interested in having one of them as a key note speaker, do let us know.Rupert Hoogewerf
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