Young or old, charity is a common undertaking of China's rich that is, according to a newly released philanthropy report.

According to the 2006 China Philanthropists List of the Hurun Report published yesterday, which names the top 100 Chinese donors, the age bracket of benefactors this year has enlarged since last year, when the youngest was 32 and the oldest 83.

This year, Shenzhen entrepreneur Yu Pengnian, 84, became the oldest and the most generous man in China by donating 2 billion yuan (US$250 million) since 2003, mainly to the health and higher education sectors.

The youngest went to Ruan Tiejun, 31, who ranked 68th by donating 10.2 million yuan (US$1.3 million).

The average age stands at 48, unchanged since last year.

The report shows most of the donations go to education, health and other public welfare sectors, while natural disasters are also making the rich open their wallets.

Briton Rupert Hoogewerf, who compiled the list, said news of the donations will serve to draw more attention from society to the needy, and even influence the government's decision-making.

The majority of the contributors are from eastern and southern China, where the non-State owned economy is most active, the report showed. About 50 donors are engaged in the real estate sector, a prosperous industry in China in recent years.

Some billionaires, such as Lu Guanqiu, a Zhejiang private entrepreneur, and Lou Zhongfu, chairman of the Board of Guangsha Construction Group, wished to remain discreet about their contributions, while some newly wealthy have yet to cast their eyes upon the goodwill industry, the report said.

For instance, the combined donations from the top four on a list of China's richest, compiled by the Hurun Report, was no more than 40 million yuan (US$5 million), an amount with which an individual could only rank 17th in the 2006 Chinese Philanthropists List.

The Hurun Report also released a China Corporate Givers List this year, containing 50 domestic and multinational enterprises and private foundations, which contributed a total of 4.1 billion yuan (US$5 billion) since 2003.

Private foundations of overseas Chinese held the top five places. Four came from Hong Kong, led by the Li Ka-Shing Foundation, which donated 670 million yuan (US$80 million) since 2003.

(China Daily April 12, 2006)