BEIJING - It was 1978 when Chen Guangbiao, then 10 years old and now chief executive officer of Jiangsu Huangpu Recycling Resources, made his first charitable donation: 1.8 yuan to help a youngster next door to buy textbooks.

On Sept 1, when Chen received a charity dinner meeting invitation from legendary stock-market investor Warren Buffett and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, he decided to donate again. This time he pledged his entire 5 billion yuan fortune.

Buffett and Gates have been trying to persuade American billionaires to give at least half of their fortunes to charity. On Sept 29 they will come to China to spread the idea of giving to their Chinese peers.