July 19, 2021
2 mins read

Beijing pushing Chinese billionaires to become more generous

More encouragement for China’s entrepreneurs to loosen their purse strings and give back to society was laid out in the government’s latest five-year plan approved in March….reports Asian Lite News

China’s ultra-wealthy have been on a philanthropic tear this year, but behind the surge in private gift-giving looms the hand of the Chinese government, says an international expert.

Michael Standaert, writing in Al Jazeera said that China’s billionaires are becoming terribly generous of late. In recent months, Wang Xing, the chairman and founder of food delivery giant Meituan, donated around USD 2.7 billion.

Colin Huang, founder of e-commerce giant Pinduoduo gifted around USD 1.85 billion. He Xiangjian of the Midea home appliances empire and Xu Jiayin of the Evergrande real estate empire donated over USD 975 million and USD 370 million respectively, reported Al Jazeera.

But behind this surge of private gift-giving looms the hand of the Chinese government, says Standaert.

China’s entrepreneurs, particularly its tech titans, have been put on notice since Alibaba co-founder and former CEO Jack Ma ran afoul of the country’s leadership late last year and the government unleashed a torrent of regulatory actions and directives aimed at containing their growing might.

Moreover, continuous messaging from state media since Chinese President Xi Jinping visited a museum in late 2020 signalled that China’s billionaires should fall into line, reported Al Jazeera.

More encouragement for China’s entrepreneurs to loosen their purse strings and give back to society was laid out in the government’s latest five-year plan approved in March.

According to Min Zhou, Director of the Asia Pacific Center at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), who follows Chinese global philanthropy activities, “There has been a push from the government for entrepreneurs to give back but this push is more top-down, so very different from what’s going on in the Chinese diaspora,” she said.

“I think entrepreneurs like Jack Ma who have wanted to follow the more Western philanthropic model, making his own foundation and attaching his name to philanthropic causes pertaining to education, [is in conflict with] the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) feeling profoundly uncomfortable with that because education is something that they are overseeing,” Emily Baum, an associate professor of Chinese history at the University of California Irvine told Al Jazeera.

There is some danger in how far Xi and the CCP are willing to push, say analysts. A climate of fear could stifle entrepreneurial efforts and innovation for the current business elite, leaving them looking more for ways out than for their next business success, wrote Standeart.

“Private enterprise owners, especially in the last three years, feel these things looming like the state could snatch their assets,” said Tom Cliff, a senior lecturer at Australian National University who has studied business elites in China.

For the CCP and the elites that buttress the political system, rising wealth inequality is seen as a threat to their grip on power, say analysts.

Moreover, once Xi ascended to the apex of Chinese power in 2012, he pushed forward laws to curtail activities outside of direct CCP and government oversight. (ANI)

ALSO READ: China-Pakistan-Turkey Nexus Put Forth A Dangerous Narrative

Previous Story

CCP maintains Africa as a testing ground for expanding its outreach

Next Story

India Needs To Consolidate Its South Asian Ties

Latest from -Top News

Trump unhappy with deadly strikes on Kyiv 

The president said he is “putting a lot of pressure” on both sides to end the war in Ukraine, following the deadliest attacks Kyiv has seen since last July  President Donald Trump

Macron: ‘We Stand with India’

Macron said that France will stand together with its allies and would continue the fight against terrorism wherever necessary….reports Asian Lite News French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday spoke to Prime Minister

Pakistan Slams IWT Move as ‘Act of War’

Islamabad also said that India’s decision to suspend the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) will be considered as an “act of war”…reports Asian Lite News The high-level emergency meeting of Pakistan’s National Security

Modi: We’ll Hunt Them Down

The Prime Minister thanked nations that extended support to India in the aftermath of the terror attack…reports Asian Lite News In his first address after the horrific terror attack in Pahalgam, Jammu
Go toTop

Don't Miss

China calls on US to lift sanctions against Cuba

Wang told the daily news briefing that China firmly supports

Taiwan to receive US anti-tank missiles by year-end

Minister Koo acknowledged the delays were indeed caused by the