Mention Chinese and the word philanthropy is a word you won't associate with them.

And, now, statistics prove just how self-centered the Chinese rich are.

For whatever reason, Chinese gave away an estimated $13 billion to charity in 2012 compared to $316 billion by Americans. Non-profit organizations are the main means by which Americans make their charitable donations.

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The U.S. has about 1.5 million non-profit organizations while China, which has the world's second largest number of millionaires, has some half a million non-profit organizations. There are a further one million non-profit organizations operating in China not registered with the government.

These facts show that charitable giving remains a hugely unpopular form of wealth distribution among China's expanding class of wealthy and super wealthy citizens.

The Conference Board, Inc., a leading non-profit organization based in the US, noted, however, that China's rich are new to philanthropy. It pointed out that China didn't have a single billionaire a decade ago.

It said philanthropy is still in its very early stages in China. It also believes that China's rich are gradually thinking about giving more to charity. And the number of China's rich is increasing.

China had 2,378,000 millionaires in 2013 compared to 7,135,000 millionaires in the US, said Boston Consulting Group. The firm's 2014 Global Wealth Report said China's millionaire growth jumped 82 percent from 2012 compared to a US growth of only 18% during the same period.

Advocates of philanthropy in China believe a decision by Alibaba co-founder and billionaire Jack Ma to establish charitable trusts that could be worth $3 billion will encourage other Chinese billionaires to donate more to charity.

"It will send a ripple effect through the community," said Dien Yuen, managing director of Kordant Philanthropy Advisors, a global philanthropic advisory firm based in California. "They're being proactive ... I think it will encourage more people to step up."

Tagsphilantrophy, Charity