Top 100 Chinese Philanthropists Gave $3.8 Billion in 2015

The 100 top Chinese philanthropists donated $3.8 billion between August 2014 and September 2015, according to a new Harvard study, reports Forbes.

The study, by Harvard’s Ash Center for Democratic Governance, named billionaire He Xiangjian, founder of appliance manufacturer Midea Group Co. Ltd., as the top giver, with more than $60 million donated to social-welfare programs. It named Wang Miaotong, chair of automotive company Century Huatong Co. Ltd., the most generous, because his $15 million in donations represented 5.6 percent of his fortune.

Among the 100 philanthropists, the average donation was $8.2 million, while the median donation was $3.1 million. Seventeen of them ran their own foundations. China’s top givers tend to give money to their home provinces and favor education causes. More than half of them gave money to government-affiliated charities.