IN BRIEF (Page 22)

Private companies donate $15.4m last year

China's privately owned companies contributed half of charitable donations in 2010, valued at more than 100 million yuan ($15.4 million) in 2010, a study conducted by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences showed.

Among China's top 20 philanthropic enterprises in 2010, eight were privately owned, and the level of their donations was higher than both State-owned companies and overseas businesses, according to the study. The country's private-owned companies donated more than 11.3 billion yuan to charity works in 2009, making up 41.5 percent of the total corporate donation.