Recently, two philanthropy related lists have become a much-talked-about topic in the media and online. One of them is the 2005 China Philanthropy List compiled by Rupert Hoogewerf, a young Shanghai-based British accountant who compiles an annual list of China's richest people. The other is the much-anticipated 2005 China Philanthropist List compiled by various public welfare organizations in China, supposedly under the guidance of the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

It is not that the general public cares very much about these two philanthropy lists. Rather, what the public is really concerned about is the spiritual and moral character of rich people. Since the reform and opening up began, a number of multimillionaires have sprung up during two decades of rapid economic growth, including a few billionaires. These wealthy people have incomes far greater than the national average. As the most prominent beneficiaries of economic development, the rich ought to take more responsibility for our society, therefore it is only natural that their spiritual and moral character has become a focus of attention in China.

The charitable contributions made by the rich in China who live sumptuously are, generally speaking, utterly inadequate compared to their income and their overseas counterparts. Statistics from the China Charity Federation indicated that 70 per cent of charitable contributions to the federation came from foreign countries or from the Chinese regions of Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, while charitable donations from wealthy benefactors in the Chinese mainland accounted for less than 15 per cent of the total value of the donations.

Philanthropy ranking can play a positive role in encouraging the rich to voluntarily donate more to charity, but that is far from enough. Besides, public charity should not be dependent entirely on charitable contributions given by the rich. More importantly, it should be made clear that charity is a social responsibility. Not only should the rich offer a helping hand, ordinary people could also make contributions. The spirit of charity should become ever more rooted in the depths of our souls.

The spirit of charity is not to be measured by money only. If a multimillionaire donates tens of millions of yuan, this of course can be counted as charity on his part. If a poor person donates 10 cents, this should also be counted as charity on his part.

The spirit of charity is also a positive force to promote peace and prosperity, it can help narrow the gap between the haves and the have-nots and achieve more balanced social and economic development. From this perspective, these two philanthropy lists are not without positive significance because they are encouraging the spirit which our society most needs at this time.

The spirit of charity should become a way of life and a state of mind. Developing the spirit of charity should become an integral part of a strategy for cultural rebuilding and reinvention. To make charity widely accepted as a civic duty and moral virtue, there is a need to create a conducive social atmosphere which inspires and encourages a sense of social responsibility and a spirit of charity in the population. At the same time, additional incentives should be introduced to encourage donations to charity.

(For more, see pages 4-6)