Gates and Buffett praise China's rich
By Alexa Olesen |
October 1, 2010, Friday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
MICROSOFT co-founder Bill Gates and billionaire investor Warren Buffett said they were impressed at a dinner they held for Chinese millionaires by the passion China's super-rich showed toward giving back to society.
The gathering to discuss philanthropy was hosted by Gates and Buffett in a mansion on the outskirts of Beijing on Wednesday.
"Overall, it was fantastic to see the energy and interest," Gates told a news conference in Beijing. He said that two-thirds of the rich Chinese who were invited to the event attended, and that the discussions about charity were candid and broad-ranging.
There are at least 875,000 US dollar millionaires in China, according to Shanghai-based analyst Rupert Hoogewerf, who studies China's wealthy.
One of the attendees, the co-chief executive of property developer SOHO China, Zhang Xin, praised Buffett. "He is 80 years old. He has a smiling face and speaks with gratitude and listens to each question carefully," Zhang wrote on her blog.
"He's a wonderful person. He said: 'I haven't sacrificed anything for charity. I don't need to save on food or other things for a donation.' His humbleness is so moving."
Another land developer who was at the dinner, Wang Shi, said on his blog that guests mainly discussed four issues over dinner: their attitude toward wealth; their thoughts on making donations; how to make donations more effective; and how charity impacts a family.
At the press conference, Gates and Buffett said that as China's wealthy had become rich relatively recently, there was a window of opportunity to encourage good practices in charitable habits.
"Thirty years ago, there really weren't people of great wealth, so what you have is first-generation fortunes," Gates said. "It's natural that they are thinking, 'What do you do in terms of giving it away, creating a foundation?'"
Buffett said patterns of giving were much more entrenched in places such as Europe, where there is considerable old wealth.
"Obviously, we did not pressurize anyone in China," Buffett said. " It's just not our style to do something of that sort."
The private dinner drew 50 business and philanthropy leaders for a 90-minute discussion.
Some of China's super-rich are skeptical about Gates' and Buffett's approach. China's wealthy don't have to "copy the US charity mode," billionaire Guo Jinshu told Xinhua news agency.
"In China, an entrepreneur's top responsibility is to keep his own business sound, to fulfil taxation payments, and create jobs. This is also out of a philanthropist heart," Guo said.
The gathering to discuss philanthropy was hosted by Gates and Buffett in a mansion on the outskirts of Beijing on Wednesday.
"Overall, it was fantastic to see the energy and interest," Gates told a news conference in Beijing. He said that two-thirds of the rich Chinese who were invited to the event attended, and that the discussions about charity were candid and broad-ranging.
There are at least 875,000 US dollar millionaires in China, according to Shanghai-based analyst Rupert Hoogewerf, who studies China's wealthy.
One of the attendees, the co-chief executive of property developer SOHO China, Zhang Xin, praised Buffett. "He is 80 years old. He has a smiling face and speaks with gratitude and listens to each question carefully," Zhang wrote on her blog.
"He's a wonderful person. He said: 'I haven't sacrificed anything for charity. I don't need to save on food or other things for a donation.' His humbleness is so moving."
Another land developer who was at the dinner, Wang Shi, said on his blog that guests mainly discussed four issues over dinner: their attitude toward wealth; their thoughts on making donations; how to make donations more effective; and how charity impacts a family.
At the press conference, Gates and Buffett said that as China's wealthy had become rich relatively recently, there was a window of opportunity to encourage good practices in charitable habits.
"Thirty years ago, there really weren't people of great wealth, so what you have is first-generation fortunes," Gates said. "It's natural that they are thinking, 'What do you do in terms of giving it away, creating a foundation?'"
Buffett said patterns of giving were much more entrenched in places such as Europe, where there is considerable old wealth.
"Obviously, we did not pressurize anyone in China," Buffett said. " It's just not our style to do something of that sort."
The private dinner drew 50 business and philanthropy leaders for a 90-minute discussion.
Some of China's super-rich are skeptical about Gates' and Buffett's approach. China's wealthy don't have to "copy the US charity mode," billionaire Guo Jinshu told Xinhua news agency.
"In China, an entrepreneur's top responsibility is to keep his own business sound, to fulfil taxation payments, and create jobs. This is also out of a philanthropist heart," Guo said.
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