Chinese billionaires, who in terms of numbers emerged second only to the US, have shunned the invitation of two of the world's richest men Bill Gates and Warren Buffett for a charity get together here later this month for a fear of parting with their hard-earned riches.
Fifty of China's super-rich recently received an invitation to a banquet to be held on September 29 with Buffett and Gates, who are on a world wide mission to persuade the rich to join their campaign to philanthropy.
The duo so far reported to have convinced 40 US billionaires to donate half of their wealth, worth as much as $125 billion.
Since the announcement of their charity dinner in Beijing, reports emerged that the two are on a mission to persuade wealthy Chinese entrepreneurs to make similar donation pledges, which scared away some of them, official media here reported.
"A small number of people declined the invitation to attend, while many of the invitees called to ask whether they would be required to pledge a donation at the dinner," said Ray Yip, the head of the China programme of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation said.
Zhang Jing, the press officer of the Foundation, said some of the Chinese entrepreneurs may have shunned the invitations due to busy schedules.
"But that does not mean businessmen are afraid of being lobbied to donate their wealth. Some may not make it because of their tight schedules," she said.
Ye Lei, another official of the Foundation, said Gates and Buffett had no desire to urge Chinese tycoons to make such pledges.
"The visit has two missions: to advocate philanthropy and to learn about the development of philanthropy in China. They're coming here to see whether in the future there might be some opportunities for cooperation or the establishment of a charitable coalition," Ye said.
So far two Chinese billionaires Chen Guangbiao and Zhang Xin, CEO of SOHO China, a real estate developer openly confirmed their participation.
Chen, a successful businessman, said he is willing to donate all of his wealth to charity funds in China when he dies.
He said the hesitation of other wealthy people in China maybr due to the fact that Chinese businessmen cannot succeed without the support of State policy, a stable social environment and the hard work of their employees, he said.
Zhang Xin already runs China's Beijing Human and Animal Environmental Education Centre which accommodates 700 homeless dogs, cats and other animals.
