Angelababy, Jackie Chan and Fan Bingbing among China's most generous celebrities
PUBLISHED ONFebruary 01, 2016 2:00 AM
Chinese celebrities, with their overwhelming influence, fame and money, are becoming important pillars in the field of charity. Aside from doing a charity relay at the annual Bazaar Charity Night, many of them are contributing to society in their own way.
Last Friday, China Philanthropist magazine issued a ranking list, in which Chinese celebrities, including film stars, artists, athletes, TV anchors and writers were evaluated for the charity work they have done in the past year. Their work was assessed based on how they contributed: donation (10 per cent), fund raising (15 per cent), charity activities (40 per cent) and charity influence (35 per cent).
The fact that the report gave more credit to charity activities and charity influences other than the traditional donation alone in ranking shows that personal involvement in charity work seems more important - as it results in a certain social morality that encourages charity on the whole.
According to the list, the top 10 celebrities in charity work are: Huang Xiaoming and Angelababy (83), Jackie Chan (81), Fan Bingbing (80), Cui Yongyuan (79), Zhao Wei (78), Yang Lan (78), Han Hong (77), Yao Ming (75), Wang Han (72), Yuan Li (71), and Jiang Yiyan (71, parallel to Yuan Li). Now, let's look at what celebrities at top 10 of the list have done to pass their kindness on to society.
Chinese actor and a shareholder of Huayi Brothers Media Corporation, Huang Xiaoming donated more than 10 million yuan (S$2.16 million), including 2 million yuan for rescue work following the Tianjin Tanggu chemical explosion in August. Aside from the donation, Huang sponsored 527 children for their living expenses as a wedding gift for his wife, Angelababy, in October. In the last two years, Huang has donated to 30 schools nationwide.
Jackie Chan
Hong Kong actor Jackie Chan donated 3 million yuan to relatives of the firemen killed during the Tianjin chemical explosion in August. Chan also donated his birthday gift from his fans - over 1 million yuan - to charity. Chan founded his charity organisation, the Jackie Chan Charitable Foundation, in 2008.
Chinese actress Fan Bingbing donated 1 million yuan to the relatives of the firemen killed during the Tianjin chemical explosion in August. Fan has been doing her own charitable project, Heart Ali, to help cure children with congenital heart diseases in the Ali district in Tibet autonomous region. The project was initiated in 2010, and every year, Fan will go to Tibet herself and bring children in need of surgery to Beijing or Shanghai for operations.
Cui Yongyuan
Chinese TV anchor Cui Yongyuan donated his 200 million yuan he earns for being a product spokesman to the public fundraising foundation, the Beijing Shuiyuan Public Foundation, in 2014. The foundation is the only one in China that's dedicated to preserving oral history. He himself founded the Beijing Yongyuan Foundation with the Beijing Red Cross in 2007, training village teachers and protecting intangible cultural heritage.
Chinese actress Zhao Wei donated 1 million yuan to the V Love Leucocythemia Foundation in Feb 2015. The foundation is set up to help children ages 3-14 diagnosed with leukemia to receive transplants.
Yang Lan
Yang Lan is a famous Chinese anchorwoman. As the goodwill ambassador for China Charity Federation, Yang also started her own foundation, Yang Lan's Sun Culture Foundation, to help promote exchanges of charity activities between China and western countries. Since 2007, Yang Lan's Sun Culture Foundation has helped train 500 people specialising in non-profit organisation work. Yang has donated 300,000 yuan from the proceeds of her first book to charity.
Han Hong
Han Hong is a Chinese singer. Han donated 500,000 yuan to Tianjin Tanggu rescue work. She founded the Hanghong Love Charity Foundation in 2011. During the past four years, the foundation has paid a visit to a city each year to give medical assistance to local hospitals. In 2015, the foundation went to Cenggong county in Southwest China's Guizhou province to help train doctors and cure 500 cataract patients. It also donated 30 sport utility vehicles for medical emergencies.
Yao Ming
Yao Ming has been doing charity work since he played in the NBA. He has been paying keen attention to AIDS prevention and research for a cure in China. In 2015, he initiated the Yao Foundation Charity Game. All ticket proceeds were donated for building basketball courts at Hope Primary Schools in China.
Wang Han
Wang Han is a TV anchor from Central China's Hunan province. He has been devoted to the protection of cultural relics and inheritance of traditional culture in Hunan. In 2015, he initiated the "Respond" project, and his team has visited all dialect experts in Hunan. His research aims to find a way to protect and preserve local dialects. So far, he has given 4.56 million yuan to this project.