UNCHARITABLE QUESTIONS GREET TYCOON'S GIVEAWAY

By Jamil Anderlini in Beijing 2009-10-28

The Chinese public and state-controlled media could be expected to welcome the founding of the country's largest-ever private charity by one of its wealthiest business tycoons.

But when Chen Fashu, the 15th richest man in China this year, with a personal fortune of about $3.7bn, announced last week he would donate roughly Rmb8.3bn ($1.2bn, €821m, £744m) to his new charitable foundation, state media responded by questioning his motives.

Even the People's Daily, the designated mouthpiece of the Chinese Communist party, suggested the charity might be used to evade a possible tax investigation and questioned whether the funds would all be used for charitable causes.

According to Tang Jun, Mr Chen's spokesman and chief executive of the new charity, the Xinhuadu Philanthropic Foundation, Mr Chen is not under investigation and speculation over his motives is completely unfounded.

China's state administration of taxation refused to comment but a senior government official in charge of overseeing charitable donations expressed reservations about the donation.

「The donation has not yet become a reality; it's just a beautiful expectation,」 Wang Zhenyao, director of the social welfare and charity promotion department of the ministry of civil affairs, told the Financial Times: 「Anyone can issue a news statement saying they are going to donate money but whom have they donated to? There is no answer because their donation has not happened yet.」

The focus on Mr Chen's intentions is common in a society that is deeply sceptical of people who have been enriched by China's rapid but unfinished transition from central planning to a more freewheeling market-driven economy.

The common public perception is that the wealthy in China have used connections with powerful officials to make their fortunes.

「There is still a general mistrust in China of the motivations for donations by the super-wealthy,」 said Rupert Hoogewerf, who compiles the annual Hurun list of China's richest.

Many charities are viewed with suspicion, in large part because the sector is poorly regulated and charitable foundations have often served as conduits for bribery, embezzlement and tax evasion in the past.

In the wake of a corruption scandal that toppled the Communist party boss of Shanghai in 2006, details emerged of how prominent charities were used to funnel bribes to officials and their families in return for plots of prime real estate and other favours.

The poor perception of charities and the immaturity of the regulatory system are the main reasons why Chinese philanthropy has been slow to develop, according to Mr Hoogewerf.

Previously, China's largest known charitable donation was a $420m pledge made by Yu Pengnian, an 87-year-old property developer from Shenzhen, to his own foundation dedicated to cataract operations.

Mr Chen's Xinhuadu foundation would be modelled on the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and concentrate on providing education to impoverished areas of China, Mr Tang told the Financial Times.

He said Mr Chen hoped to co-operate with the Gates Foundation and would eventually branch out into medical care, environmental issues and other areas.

Mr Chen, 48, began building his fortune by selling groceries in the 1980s but became a billionaire by investing early in Zijin Mining, China's largest gold miner, which listed on the Hong Kong stock market in 2003 and in Shanghai in 2008. As soon as a one-year lock-up on the Shanghai-listed shares ended in April, Mr Chen sold two-thirds of his personal stake in Zijin on the open market and invested most of the $410m proceeds buying 12 per cent of Chinese traditional medicine maker Yunnan Baiyao and acquiring a 7 per cent stake in Tsingtao Brewery from Anheuser-Busch.

Mr Chen's donation to his foundation will mostly be in the form of the shares he still holds in Zijin Mining and Tsingtao Brewery.

In September, state media reported that the state administration of taxation was investigating Mr Chen for tax fraud related to the sale of shares he owned in Zijin Mining.

But Mr Tang said that under current Chinese law Mr Chen was not required to pay tax on his share sales. 「If the government asks us to pay [tax] we will be the first to do so, but there is no such regulation at the moment,」 he said. 「The public should not doubt us.」奇怪標點

Specialist lawyers and accountants said the rules were vague but that Mr Chen would not usually be required to pay tax on a share sale.

中國富豪捐贈惹出的是是非非

人們可能預期，當中國最富有的商業大亨之一成立該國有史以來最大的民間慈善基金時，中國公眾和由政府控制的媒體將會表示歡迎。

但是，當今年在中國富豪榜上排名第15、個人身價約37億美元的陳發樹上週宣佈，他將捐贈大約83億元人民幣（合12億美元）到自己新成立的慈善基金會時，官方媒體的回應卻是質疑他的動機。

連中共機關報《人民日報》也提出，該慈善機構也許被用於逃避一項可能的稅務調查，並質疑相關資金是否會全部用於慈善事業。

據陳發樹的發言人、新華都慈善基金會(Xinhuadu Philanthropic Foundation)執行理事長唐駿介紹，陳發樹並未受到任何調查，有關其別有動機的猜測是毫無根據的。

中國國家稅務總局拒絕置評，但負責監督慈善捐贈的一名政府高官對陳發樹的捐贈行為持保留意見。

「這項捐贈尚未成為現實；它只是一個美麗的預期，」中國民政部社會福利和慈善事業促進司司長王振耀向英國《金融時報》表示。「任何人都可以發佈一條新聞聲明，稱自己打算捐贈資金，但問題是他們捐給誰了？目前還沒有答案，因為他們的捐贈還沒有發生。」

對陳發樹意圖的關注，在當今中國社會很常見。在這裡，人們對那些借助中國快速而尚未完成的轉型（從計劃經濟轉向更為無拘無束的市場經濟）致富的人，抱有深深的懷疑。

公眾的普遍感覺是，中國的富人是利用自己與大權在握的官員的關係，才得以發財的。

「在中國，人們普遍不信任富豪們捐贈的動機，」編制「胡潤年度中國百富榜」的胡潤(Rupert Hoogewerf)表示。

許多慈善機構受到人們的懷疑，這在很大程度上是因為該領域監管不力，而且慈善基金會以往經常被用作賄賂、挪用公款和逃稅的渠道。

2006年，一場腐敗醜聞導致上海市委書記下台。在那之後曝光的細節顯示，知名慈善機構如何被用於向官員及其家屬行賄，以換取房地產開發的黃金地塊以及其它恩惠。

在胡潤看來，中國慈善機構在人們眼中的形象不佳，加上監管制度不成熟，是中國慈善事業發展較慢的主要原因。

此前中國最大一筆公開的慈善捐贈，是87歲的深圳房地產開發商余彭年向自己的基金會承諾捐贈4.2億美元，專用於資助白內障手術。

唐駿告訴英國《金融時報》，陳發樹的新華都慈善基金會將參照比爾和梅琳達•蓋茨基金會(Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation)的模式，重點是向中國的貧困地區提供教育。

他表示，陳發樹希望與蓋茨基金會開展合作，最終拓展到醫療、環保和其它領域。

陳發樹今年48歲，他的發財之路是從上世紀80年代賣雜貨開始的，後來通過提前入股紫金礦業(Zijin Mining)成為億萬富翁。紫金礦業是中國最大的金礦企業，2003年在香港上市，2008年又在上海上市。上海上市股票的一年鎖定期在今年4月結束 後，陳發樹在公開市場上拋出其個人所持紫金股份的三分之二，並將4.1億美元售股所得的大部分，用於收購中國傳統醫藥生產商雲南白藥(Yunnan Baiyao) 12%的股份，並從安海斯-布希(Anheuser-Busch)購得青島啤酒(Tsingtao Brewery) 7%的股份。

陳發樹向自己基金會所做的捐贈，大部分將以他仍然持有的紫金礦業和青島啤酒股票為形式。

9月份，官方媒體報導稱，國家稅務總局正在調查陳發樹，以查明他在出售自己所持的紫金礦業股票時，是否存在騙稅行為。

但唐駿表示，根據中國現行法律，陳發樹無需為出售股票而繳稅。「如果政府要求我們繳[稅]，我們會搶先照辦，但目前沒有這樣的法規，」他表示。「公眾不應該懷疑我們。」

專業律師和會計師們表示，相關規則有點含糊，但通常而言，陳發樹不需為出售股票而繳稅。

譯者/和風