The rich people in China are often derided for a perceived lack of social responsibility, but the list of China's most generous persons shows more wealthy people are willing to take on the charitable cause.

Yu Pengnian [sina.com]

According to the 2007 Hurun Report's Chinese Philanthropists List, compiled by Briton Rupert Hoogewerf and released Wednesday, 54 of China's top 100 philanthropists are from the top 100 wealthy people, a 10 percent increase from a year ago.

"Almost all the top 100 rich Chinese are considering the concept of charity. In the beginning, the entrepreneurs donate to a certain project, which gradually developed into a charitable institution. With a good policy environment, more and more wealthy people are setting up their own charitable funds." Hoogwerf said on releasing the list, the fourth since he began compiling the list in 2003.

The Top Ten: 1. Yu Pengnian 2. Zhu Mengyi 3. Niu Gensheng 4. Huang Rulun 5. Yang Lan & Wu Zheng 6. Chen Dexuan 7. Li Shufu 8. Duan Yongbo 9. Huang Nubo 10. Yang Xiu

The total amount donated by the top Chinese philanthropists in the year ending March was 3.9 billion yuan, up from 3.75 billion yuan in 2006, with 15 of them contributing more than 100 million yuan.

Yu Pengnian, an 85-year-old entrepreneur in south China's boom city of Shenzhen, topped the list for a second consecutive year, donating a total of two billion yuan in four years. Yu was also the oldest philanthropist on the list.

The youngest went to online game developer Chen Tianqiao, 34, who ranked 69th at 22.6 million yuan.

The average age stood at 51, up from 48 in the last two years.

Zhu Mengyi, a real estate developer in south China's Guangdong Province, ranked second at one billion yuan, to be followed by Niu Gensheng, chairman of north China's Mengniu dairy Group, at 650 million yuan.

Niu has promised to donate all his shares at the dairy group to a charitable fund he set up in 2005.

Hu Rulun, founder of the Jinyuan property and investment group and donation champion in 2004 and 2005, and Yang Lan, founder of Sunshine TV, took the fourth and fifth positions respectively.

According to the report, 66 percent of the donations go to the education sector, and 38 percent to public welfare projects.

The Hurun Report also released a Corporate Social responsibility List this year, an alternative of last year's Corporate Givers List, containing 50 domestic and multinational enterprises and private foundations. This year, the most generous enterprise went to PetroChina.