Charity not high on China Richs`agenda - Rupert Hoogewerf

Rupert Hoogewerf

Billionaire Bill Gates has tried in vain to engage his Chinese counterparts to spend more on charity. China Rich List founder Rupert Hoogewerf explains in Knowledge CKGSB why China´s wealthy give no priority to philanthropy.

Knowledge CKGSB:

Beyond the numbers, the reputation of China’s elite as being tightfisted when it comes to philanthropy was solidified in 2010 after media reports that many had turned down invitations to a dinner in Beijing hosted by Gates and Warren Buffet that was intended to raise awareness about philanthropy. Gates later said that two­thirds of invitees attended the event. 

Rupert Hoogewerf, founder of the Hurun Report, says that for the wealthy, charity is “low down on the priorities”. “They feel that… the best way they can give back to society is to grow a strong, healthy business.” ... 

The system also doesn’t help incentivize philanthropy, says Hoogewerf. He points to the absence of US­ style inheritance taxes, from which gifts to charity are usually exempt, as a further reason why the wealthy don’t donate as much as they could. 

The desire of many of China’s wealthy to keep a low profile, so as not to draw attention to their riches and the scrutiny it would inevitably bring, also works against significant philanthropic gestures. And when big gestures are made, they are often dismissed as publicity stunts rather than true philanthropy, as has been the case with Chen Guangbiao, an entrepreneur who made his money in the recycling business.

More in Knowledge CKGSB.

Rupert Hoogewerf is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers´request form.

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China's rich: no time to spend money on charity - Rupert Hoogewerf

Image via Wikipedia

China's wealthy are just in the middle of making money, spending it has hardly crossed their minds, says Rupert Hoogewerf, who is going to release his official Hurun or China's rich list later this month. "They are too young."he tells CNN.
Last week, US billionaires Bill Gates and Warren Buffett visited Beijing to check out the climate for charity in China. In CNN:

The average age of someone on China's super rich lists is 51, about 15 years younger than their Western counterparts, says Rupert Hoogewerf, chief researcher at Hurun Report.

"Chinese entrepreneurs have made their money very quickly and they haven't really had time to think about how to spend it -- they are still in wealth-creation modes," he said.

Gates and Buffett acknowledge the challenge, but remain optimistic....

"Gates and Buffett are the two biggest authorities on the subject. By coming to China to talk about it, they have sown the seeds in very fertile ground," Hoogewerf said.

Update: In addition, Rupert Hoogewerf told Reuters:

“The main reason is because there is an inherent mistrust in giving your money to any third party to pass it on. They’re convinced that for every 100 that they give, the end party won’t receive anything near that 100,” he said.

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Rupert Hoogewerf or Hurun is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. When you need him at your meeting or conference, do get in touch.

Hurun by Fantake via Flickr

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Zong Qinghou, richest man in China - Rupert Hoogewerf

  Hurun by Fantake via Flickr

Zong Qinghou, founder of China's largest soft drink producer Wahaha, has become the richest man of China in 2010, announced Rupert Hoogewerf or Hurun, maker of the China Rich List today, according to AFP. Zong not only gained financial, but also politically by taking on the French former partner Danone.
The announcement comes as China's rich gather at a dinner by US-billionaires Bill Gates and Warren Buffet in Beijing for their Chinese equals. Zong will be one of them.
According to AFP:

Zong, 65, leapt 11 places to top the Hurun Rich List, said Rupert Hoogewerf, founder of the Shanghai-based Hurun Report, which publishes the annual list of the richest Chinese with personal wealth of at least 150 million dollars.

Zong's climb up the rankings comes a year after French food giant Danone ended its long-standing feud with Wahaha, by agreeing to sell its 51 percent stake in their joint ventures.

Danone had accused Zong of breaching an agreement after he set up an entire production and distribution network in parallel to the French firm's joint ventures with Wahaha.

The whole list will only be published in October.

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Rupert Hoogewerf or Hurun is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch.

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China's rich give differently - Rupert Hoogewerf

Rupert Hoogewerf via Flickr

China's rich give also part of their wealth away, says Rupert Hoogewerf of the China's rich list at the eve before Bill Gates and Warren Buffet hit the stage in Beijing in the New York Times. But they do it in a different way.
While the rich in the US have been increasingly vocal on how they give their increasing fortunes to charity. China's rich have been fairly silent on the initiative to get more millionaires behind the Gates-Buffet initiative. But that does not mean China's wealthy are sitting on their capital, says Rupert Hoogewerf or Hurun of the China Rich List.

“The Chinese have been very generous for a long period of time,” Rupert Hoogewerf, who publishes Hurun Report, said by telephone. “The difference has been that they do it between families, and don’t publicize it. What we’re seeing now is a new era of transparency.”

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