China is not only a place where fortunes are being made, but increasingly a place where they are being given away, as the new wealthy become the philanthropists of today and tomorrow.
A double – possibly even triple – take is needed to understand the significance of this phenomenon: the millionaires in allegedly communist China giving their money, or at least part of it, away voluntarily. Furthermore, there are enough benefactors for someone to have compiled a list – namely, the the 2005 China Philanthropy 50 compiled by Euromoney China – recording who gave how much to whom and releasing this to the public. That this is the second year the list has been compiled suggests growing corporate maturity.