The chairman of one of China’s largest internet companies is looking to join the ranks of the technology world’s big philanthropists Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates, by donating more than $2bn to charity.

中国最大互联网企业之一的董事长承诺向慈善事业捐赠逾20亿美元，此举将使他加入高科技领域最大慈善家马克•扎克伯格(Mark Zuckerberg)和比尔•盖茨(Bill Gates)的行列。

Pony Ma, who is founder and chief executive of Tencent Holdings, plans to cash in 100m company shares to make the donation to the Tencent Foundation, which gives money to healthcare, education and environmental protection in China, the company said yesterday.

腾讯控股(Tencent Holdings)昨日表示，创始人和首席执行官马化腾(Pony Ma)计划捐献1亿股腾讯股票给腾讯基金会(Tencent Foundation)。该基金会将向中国的医疗、教育和环保事业捐赠资金。

Tencent shares in Hong Kong closed up 0.24 per cent at HK$165.7, making the donation worth about $2.1bn.

腾讯H股昨日收涨0.24%，至每股165.7港元，让这笔捐赠的价值达到约21亿美元。

The company operates QQ and WeChat, two of China’s largest online and mobile chatting applications. The Shenzhen-based, Hong Kong-listed group has a market capitalisation of $185bn and owns entertainment and online gaming businesses, as well as a bank and other financial services.

该公司运营着中国两大在线和移动聊天应用QQ和微信(WeChat)。这家总部位于深圳的香港上市集团市值达到1850亿美元，旗下除了娱乐和网络游戏业务，还有一家银行和其他金融服务业务。

Mr Ma has a net worth of about $20bn, according to Forbes but his success has often been overshadowed by Jack Ma of Alibaba, the e-commerce company. The Alibaba founder was reportedly worth more than $22bn. Alongside his chief financial officer, he said last year that he had set up a fund using share options worth about 2 per cent of the company’s equity, or about $3bn at the time of the announcement.

根据《福布斯》(Forbes)的统计，马化腾的财富净值约为200亿美元。不过，他的成功经常笼罩在电子商务公司阿里巴巴(Alibaba)的创始人马云(Jack Ma)的阴影之下。马云的财富净值据报道超过220亿美元。去年，马云曾表示已和他的首席财务官一道，用相当于阿里巴巴约2%股本的股票期权设立了基金，消息公布时这一捐赠价值约为30亿美元。

The Tencent chairman said in a statement: “After 10 years of exploration and participation in philanthropic activities, I increasingly feel a better way to continue giving back to the society is to do it over a longer term and in a more organised way.”

马化腾在一份声明中表示：“通过十年的公益实践和探索，日益感到需要一个更长远、更高效的系统规划和架构，以善用财富回馈社会。”

Tencent said its foundation, which was established in 2007 and co-operates with other charities in China, was set to become one of the biggest charitable funds in the world.

腾讯表示，其基金会将成为全球最大的慈善基金之一。该基金会成立于2007年，与中国其他多家慈善机构存在合作关系。