Shanghai residents most benevolent in China

A survey by MasterCard International has said 60 percent of Shanghai residents plan to donate to charity over the next six months, the highest across the country, China Daily reported.

In terms of generosity, Shanghai is followed by Beijing, where 45 percent of respondents plan to donate to charity. Guangzhou's rate was 43 percent and next was Wuhan with 36 percent.

Nearly half of those who plan to make a donation expect to give two percent of their annual income, while eight percent of respondents can afford to give more than five percent of their annual income.

The survey found that men are more generous than women, with three percent more men saying they were willing to open their wallets.

Older people and married couples also appear to be more generous, the survey found.
About 58 percent of respondents older than 45 years and 57 percent of married couples plan to contribute to a charitable cause.

As a testimony to their generosity, Shanghai residents donated over 1.2 million yuan ($177,000) to the Red Cross Society of China for mudslide-hit Zhouqu county, where around 1,400 people have died in rain-triggered landslides that struck Aug 8.