80 percent of Chinese charitable donations go to non-Mainland charities

A new study picked up by the South China Morning Post reveals that a vast majority - about 80 percent - of Chinese charitable donations have been going to organizations outside of the Mainland. That's more than RMB24.2 billion last year going straight out of the country and into places like Hong Kong, Macau and foreign institutions.

The study, conducted by Beijing Normal University, found that Jack Ma, Wang Jianlin (of Dalian Wanda fame) and Ma Huateng (from Tencent) topped the country's donating charts, with combined donations reaching into the billions of yuan. What, no Chen Guangbiao?

Various private mainland charities got about 15 percent of all donations, while organizations directly managed by mainland authorities came in at just 1.18 percent. 

China's charity world is becoming more reputable and prestigious as more groups begin to operate in the country, but it still has a ways to go before it can shed the image epitomized by the massive 2011 Red Cross scandal.

People don't want to donate to charities if they think their money may be skimmed off the top by loose-fingered officials or snagged by Guo Meimei. While Chinese charities' reputations are improving, they've still got a long ways to go.