What do you think of tycoons giving their wealth to charity? This is common in the West and is a subject of admiration; in China, however, many people still doubt the motives of individuals with an open hand.
Chen Fashu became the latest target of skepticism when the billionaire declared this week he was setting up an 8-billion-yuan charity fund. Some believe he is merely trying to win public favor to avoid tax fraud charges.
Chen Fashu, the president of New Huadu Industrial Group, plans to create a charity foundation with 90 percent of the shares he holds – worth some 8 billion yuan, theBeijing Youth Daily reported Monday.
Chen, 48, says he hopes to model the fund after the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, a huge charity fund established by the founder of software giant Microsoft, the paper said.
New Huadu’s CEO Tang Jun said the fund will account for 45 percent of Chen’s personal assets and will become the country’s largest evcivil charity foundation.
Chen, who holds large stakes in listed companies like Tsingtao Brewery and Yunnan Baiyao, on top of New Huadu Industrial Group, was this month ranked number 25 on the Hurun list of China’s richst people, the newspaper report said.
However, the paper reported that Chen was under investigation for possible tax evasion, and said there were speculations his charity fund was a tactic to save himself from charges.
But in an interview with the Beijing News, Chen denied the accusations and said he was not the subject of any government probe.
