China’s Real Estate Billionaires Are Not Cheap, But the Techies Are

Forbes China has just published its 2012 list of the biggest philanthropists in China, and the results tell us that while China’s real estate billionaires have made a lot of cash, at least they are not cheapskates. Too bad we can’t say the same about the country’s Internet magnates.

Out of the top five givers to charitable causes in China last year, five of them come from the real estate industry, a number which, if you compare to the composition of China’s wealthiest people, actually means that real estate tycoons are among the biggest givers in the country.

Heading the list of all philanthropists in China last year was Hui Ka Yan, the head of Evergrande Real Estate and according to the Forbes 2012 rich list, the wealthiest of China’s real estate leaders. Hui gave RMB 388 million to charity last year.

Comparatively speaking China’s tech sector may be among the most stingy of the country’s uber-rich. Looking at the top twenty givers in the country, only Pony Ma of Tencent ranked at #11 with donations of just less than RMB 108 million. Tech billionaires such as Baidu’s Robin Li, who ranked #2 on the rich list, were nowhere to be some among the top 20 givers.

Judged as a group China real estate moguls put the geek elite to shame.  Of the wealthiest Chinese billionaires on the Forbes Rich List 2012, nine of the top 25, or 36 percent, come from the real estate world, while three of these billionaires, or 12 percent come from the Internet industry. However, when it comes to the giving list, ten out of the top 20 philanthropists come from the property field, while only one of the top 20 givers, Tencent’s Pony Ma, comes from the online world.

For those of you looking for more details on the philanthropists list, here is a summary of the top 20, including details of how much they gave last year and the industry sector where they made their cash.

This table is closely cribbed and translated from the original article in Forbes China, so my apologies for the near-plagiarism and bad translation. For more information on which real estate tycoons ranked where on the rich list, check out my earlier post on the top five real estate moguls in China.