He said yesterday that the results show the rich and businessmen in China are more concerned about public welfare and increasingly aware of their social responsibilities.

Chinese authorities have been making appeals for charity as 25 years of spectacular economic growth have created an estimated 1,000 people with assets in excess of 100 million yuan (US$12 million) while tens of millions of people live on less than a dollar a day.

Also, international funds, once an important source of support for the poor, are drying up as China is in transition from an aid recipient to donor, said Ge Daoshun, a researcher with China Academy of Social Sciences.

"So we need the rich to donate more than ever," he said.