Alibaba's Jack Ma named richest, most generous person in China  

马云捐赠145亿首富成年度首善

昨日，胡润研究院公布最新一期百富慈善榜，中国首富、阿里巴巴的马云以145亿元捐赠额成为“2014中国最慷慨的慈善家”，同时成为“2014大中华区最慷慨的慈善家”，也超越最近一年的美国首善Facebook的马克·扎克伯格（70亿元捐赠额）。[查看全文]

(ECNS) -- Jack Ma, founder and executive chairman of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, was named China's most generous charitable benefactor on Tuesday, the same day he topped Forbes China's Rich List.

Ma's net worth soared to $19.5 billion in 2014, up from $7.1 billion last year, when he was ranked eighth, according to Forbes China.

The entrepreneur also topped a similar list released last month by China-based luxury magazine publisher Hurun, which put his wealth at a much higher estimate of $24.5 billion.

Meanwhile, a Charity List released by Hurun on Tuesday said Ma has donated 14.5 billion yuan ($2.37 billion) to charity, surpassing Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg, who ranked first among the US's biggest donors by giving nearly $1 billion to charity in 2003.

Huang Rulun, 63, the chairman of Century Golden Resources Group, followed Ma on the list, with a donation of 580 million yuan ($94 million). It is the 11th consecutive year for Huang to be included on the charity list.

Wanda Group Chairman Wang Jianlin came in third place for charity after donating 440 million yuan ($72 million), but was knocked from first place to fourth on this year's Forbes Rich List.

Total donations by 100 charitable benefactors on the list has rocketed by 264 percent to 20.9 billion yuan this year, the first increase in the past five years.

The property sector accounted for nearly half of the philanthropists on the list. The manufacturing industry accounted for 15 percent and the IT industry 11 percent.

Jack Ma poured much of his personal wealth into the creation of one of Asia's largest philanthropic trusts in April, highlighting what many see as the dawn of a new era of giving among China's freshly minted billionaires.