This is the first time for Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates to attend the Boao Forum for Asia. During a discussion with him, someone curiously asked a very civilian question: "Are you planning to go on space tourism?" "No, I will not waste my money on space tourism, I will spend my money on charity. ." Gates replied. (Wen Wei Po, April 22)

According to statistics from Forbes magazine, Bill Gates is the world’s largest philanthropist.

Between 2001 and 2004, Bill Gates and his wife donated more than $10 billion to charity and non-commercial activities. In addition to leaving a basic fee of US$1 million to each of his two daughters, he plans to donate the rest of his property to social welfare and charitable organizations.

Obviously, although his answer is not a public commitment, it is enough to reflect Bill Gates' inner sense of public welfare and philanthropic persistence. In contrast, China's wealthy groups are quite lacking in self-conscious awareness of philanthropy.

According to statistics from the China Charity Federation, the China Charity Federation has raised nearly 1.3 billion yuan in donations over the past eight years, with donations from the mainland accounting for only 30%. Among this 30%, the proportion of enterprises and individuals is not high. A statistics on public welfare donations by listed companies shows that listed companies with annual donations of more than 1 million yuan account for only a small part of the listed companies, and there are even hundreds of listed companies with zero public welfare donations. It can be seen that the charity enthusiasm of Chinese enterprises and entrepreneurs is quite low.

When it comes to "the rich have few good deeds", many experts believe that it is the imperfection of the law that has caused many charitable organizations to lose their credibility, which makes entrepreneurs have many concerns in charity activities. It cannot be denied that this is one reason why rich people are not enthusiastic about charity, but it is by no means the main reason. The real crux is that the accumulation of wealth is not synchronized with the follow-up of wealth ethics. It is the lack of social responsibility that leads to the indifference of charity awareness.

"It is a shame to die rich." This famous saying by the American steel magnate and philanthropist Carnegie before his death has been widely circulated around the world. At the 2007 Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference, Yunus, founder of Grameen Bank of Bangladesh and winner of the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize, also said: “You cannot simply think that doing business means making money. An insult." I hope these "wise words" can touch the increasingly indifferent philanthropic nerves of the wealthy group. Chen Yizhou