In 2009, charity donations reached about 33.27 billion yuan ($ 4.89 billion), with nearly 60 percent of the donations from businesses, according to the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

The top 50 philanthropists donated nearly 3.9 billion yuan in total last year, according to the 2009 Hurun Philanthropy List, four times the figure from six years ago.

But the environment is not ready in China for rich people to donate large sums of their fortune, where the progress is mainly led by the government and driven by the public, said Wang Zhenyao, director of the Center for Philanthropy Research at Beijing Normal University.

Donations from rich people are still not popular in China, partly because of their fears that their fortunes will be exposed, and because China's charity systems are still underdeveloped.

"The banquet is not only a test of the Chinese rich, but also a test to our charity environment and system," Wang said.

Chinese rich people cast doubt on the transparency of charity operations. For example, very few of the country's growing number of charity organizations and foundations offer feedback to the donors or publish the money flow, said Wang.

Movie star Jet Li told Reuters on Tuesday that China needs a philanthropy law in order to give reassurances to would-be donors.

Li's One Foundation, a partner with the Red Cross Society of China, has been unable to get government approval to set up as an independent charity.

"Creating a foundation in China is just like driving a car on the freeway, but there are no red or green lights, only yellow. I've been driving through yellow lights for three years, and don't know if the next one will be red or green," he said.