President Xi Jinping pushes the concept of “common prosperity to diminish China’s grasp between the poor and rich. China’s 49 richest tycoons have donated US$14 billion for that purpose, according to the Hurun China Philanthropy List 2022. “The top three on the list each donated around 15 billion yuan and came from internet companies,” says Hurun’s chief researcher Rupert Hoogewerf in AsiaOne.
AsiaOne:
The founders of three of China’s technology giants each pledged over US$2 billion to charitable causes over the past year, in a collective response to the nation’s call for common prosperity that drove donations to a record, according to the Hurun China Philanthropy List 2022.
The list recorded 49 benefactors who each gave away more than 100 million yuan (S$19 million) from April 2021 to the end of August, driving total donations to a record US$10 billion (S$14 million), the most in 19 editions and “a record year for big philanthropy,” said Hurun’s chief researcher Rupert Hoogewerf.
China’s top 10 philanthropists, all on Hurun’s China Rich list , gave away 6.3 per cent of their total wealth, or around US$8.7 billion, according to the report.
“The top three on the list each donated around 15 billion yuan and came from internet companies,” Hoogewerf said in the list released on Wednesday. “They have recently retreated behind the scenes, and have all responded quickly to the country’s common prosperity drive.”
Common prosperity first emerged as a wealth distribution concept in the 1950s soon after the establishment of the People’s Republic, and resurfaced in the 1980s when China experimented with capitalism and economic liberalisation.
President Xi Jinping has repeatedly called for “common prosperity” as an aspirational concept in the past year to narrow the gap between China’s ultra wealthy and the rural poor. The catchphrase refers to affluence shared by everyone both in material and cultural terms, not the prosperity for just a few nor an absolute equal distribution, and should be advanced step by step, according to the government…
Seven of the top 10 philanthropists donated shares of their businesses to charitable foundations, according to Hoogewerf.
“Charitable trusts have become an important way to promote common prosperity and the development of philanthropy in the country,” he said.
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