China tech billionaires ramp up donations as Beijing cracks down

China has been tightening regulations on tech companies, in parallel with concerned about inequality, with President Xi Jinping recently saying "common prosperity” should be the ultimate goal. – Xinhua via AP

China’s tech tycoons are discovering their charitable side as they come under mounting regulatory scrutiny from Beijing.

In the latest example, Xiaomi Corp. co-founder Lei Jun handed over US$2.2bill (RM9.28bil) of shares in the smartphone maker to two foundations, according to filings to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. That came after Meituan’s Wang Xing and ByteDance Ltd.’s Zhang Yiming gave away parts of their fortune to charitable causes last month.