Most big donations sent abroad to avoid taxation   

中國八成大額個人捐贈流向境外 因國內需繳稅

(ECNS) -- Nearly 80 percent of large Chinese donations have gone to overseas charities, according to a recent report by China's Public Welfare Institute at Beijing Normal University. 　

The total donations by top 100 people in China sum up to 30.42 billion yuan (about $5 billion) in 2014 and overseas agencies received 24.2 billion yuan from China, according to the report.

SOHO China President Pan Shiyi's agreement to donate $15 million to Harvard, alongside a large equity amount given to a Singapore charity by Jack Ma, founder and executive chairman of Alibaba Group, lead to hefty offshore-bound individual donations in 2014.　　　

Zhang Gaorong, director of the Research Department at China's Public Welfare Institute, said the main reason might entail preferential taxation policies offered by foreign countries when making such donations. 　　

On the Chinese mainland, both donors and receivers have to pay up, with listed enterprises facing a huge donation tax, he explained.

However, donors need not to pay income tax for an increased amount of equity donated overseas when charity institutes sell these equities, it was added.　　

Ma announced on April 25, 2014 that he would establish an individual public trust fund to promote development especially in environmental, medical, educational, and cultural sectors on the Chinese mainland, in Hong Kong, and overseas.