Shanghai residents are the country's most benevolent in terms of donating to charity, according to a recent survey.

The survey by MasterCard International released on Wednesday said nearly 60 percent of Shanghai residents plan to donate to charity over the next six months, the highest rate across China.

The biannual MasterCard consumer survey conducted between March and April 2010 polled a total of 10,920 consumers in 24 markets across the Asia/Pacific, Middle East and Africa.

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, where 36 percent of respondents are willing to dig in their pockets.

Nationwide, 46 percent of respondents said they plan to make a donation over the next six months, a 3 percent increase over six months ago, the survey found.

Nearly half of those who plan to make a donation expect to give 1 to 2 percent of their annual income, while 8 percent of respondents can afford to give more than 5 percent of their income.

The survey found that Chinese males are more generous than females, with 3 percent more males saying they are willing to open their wallets.

Older people and those who are married also appear to be more generous, the survey found.

About 58 percent of respondents older than 45 and 57 percent of married couples in China plan to contribute to a charitable cause in the next six months. Some 55 percent of respondents aged 30 to 44, and 51 percent of those between the ages of 18 and 29 are willing to give.

As a testimony to their generosity, Shanghai residents donated more than 1.2 million yuan (US$177,000) to the Shanghai branch of the Red Cross Society of China for Zhouqu, where mudslides triggered by rain killed nearly 1,400 people on Aug 8.

The Shanghai Charity Foundation received more than 630,000 yuan from 968 online donations so far this year as of Thursday.

"It's part of the responsibility of being one of the richest cities in China to help those who are in need," said Gu Jia, a 26-year-old Shanghai office worker who donated 200 yuan to the Red Cross for Zhouqu.

"Perhaps, the survey found us to be more benevolent as a group because we have more disposable income than those in most parts of the country," she said.

The average disposable per capita income for the country's urban residents was 17,175 yuan in 2009, while the figure for Shanghai residents reached 28,838 yuan.

(China Daily August 20, 2010)