As the Chinese rich, mostly private entrepreneurs, start to pursue charitable activities, corporate donations have become fashionable among increasing numbers of domestic enterprises.

In contrast to individual donations, which are commonly motivated by personal consciousness or memory of a miserable past, corporate donations often help enterprises build a good public image. Their virtues and social responsibility can be demonstrated through their contributions.

"These corporate givers make contributions to society and get returns from society at the same time," said Rupert Hoogewerf, who has released a list of the most generous corporate givers in China, along with his philanthropist list. He says it is the first list to focus on corporate charity on the mainland.

According to Hoogewerf, all kinds of companies in China were included in his research. Eventually 24 State-owned enterprises, four private companies and 22 international companies appeared on his list. As to why there are so few private enterprises on the list, he explained that he listed as individual donations those made by private entrepreneurs who own more than a 50-per cent share of a company.

A total of 1.36 billion yuan (US$164 million) are given by the 50 most generous enterprises on the list, primarily to health care, education and disaster relief causes.

"Corporate charity can be regarded as a share of social profit. It facilitates these corporate donors in achieving a win-win result with society," the list maker said.

Gu Xiaoming, a sociologist in Shanghai observed that charity was an essential element in the modern marketing system. He pointed out that charity was both an individual and social matter.

"Actually, charities call for a normative and healthy company system and also a mature tax operation," he warned that sometimes donations can obscure the "gray" experiences of entrepreneurs and companies.

"For example, the employees are treated very badly in some enterprises which also make donations. And some companies even prefer to donate rather than pay taxes," Gu said. "As for those who are eager to show their social responsibility through donations, they should learn that accountability first means honest accounting."

Gu's view was echoed by many Chinese scholars, who tend to emphasize the virtues of "corporate citizens".

"Charity is never the only or the primary way for enterprises to fulfill their social responsibility," said Wang Ming, director of the NGO Research Centre under Tsinghua University. He ranked corporate duties first as offering quality products efficiently, next legal duty, with moral duty and charity last.

More and more people come to believe that good corporate management is the greatest virtue for a company. Huang Rulun, a reputed philanthropist once said that creating prosperity for the nation and employment opportunities within companies was a more meaningful way to contribute.

APP, a paper manufacturer on the mainland which is the key subsidiary of Sinar Mars paper manufacturers in Indonesia, is ranked as the most generous corporate giver by Hoogewerf.

According to the list, APP has donated and pledged 208 million yuan (US$25.1 million) on the mainland over the past two years. A public relations spokesman at APP's Shanghai Branch revealed that the company has already donated a total of 130 million yuan (US$15.6 million) to education and disaster relief efforts - such as SARS and tsunami charities.

However, APP's business reputation came into question in China after it was strongly criticized by Greenpeace and some domestic media last year. They said that APP had destroyed a large swath of wild forest in China's Yunnan and Hainan Provinces and that replanting by APP has damaged the local environment. A financial crisis occurred for APP when its paper products were boycotted in some supermarkets.

"Undoubtedly, APP's corporate image has been hurt since then," said the source with APP. He insists that APP always uses scientific methods in the timber renewal projects but he refused to conclude that APP's replanting causes no harm to the environment. "The result should await scientific judgement," he said.

The source also said the large donations made by APP were not made to improve its corporate image but were due to a self-effacing corporate principle they have always maintained.

"APP has about 20,000 employees on the mainland. Its annual sales amount to 15 billion yuan (US$1.8 billion) and it annually pays 1 billion yuan (US$12 million) in taxes," the source said by way of illustrating that this giant corporate giver is a responsible enterprise.