(Yicai Global) Feb. 4 -- As of yesterday, 1,521 companies had donated CNY16.8 billion (USD2.4 billion) to fight the pneumonia epidemic since the novel coronavirus outbreak in China, statistics show.

The number of company donors exceeded 1,500 within ten days since Jan. 23, with 169 new enterprises joining the ranks each day on average. Beijing, Guangdong, and Zhejiang were the top three in terms of company donations, accounting for CNY4.09 billion (USD584.7 million), CNY2.74 billion, and CNY1.92 billion, respectively, as per a joint survey report by Professor Zhong Hongwu of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and China Star CSR-Cloud Management Consulting.

A total of 434 companies donated more than CNY10 million (USD1.4 million) each, with e-commerce giant Alibaba topping the list after a CNY1-billion contribution. COFCO, a large state-backed company, ranked second with a donation of CNY752 million (USD107.5 million).

Private firms took the largest share of donations, totaling CNY8.5 billion, accounting for 63 percent. Thirty-four companies, including Tencent, Baidu, ByteDance, and Meituan Dianping, contributed more than CNY100 million.

In addition, state-owned enterprises donated CNY4.2 billion, accounting for 31 percent, and foreign companies gave CNY728 million, accounting for 6 percent. Sinar Mas Group, founded by well-known Chinese Indonesian Huang Yicong, has donated CNY100 million yuan, ranking first among foreign firms.

Editor: Peter Thomas