Former Premier Zhu Rongji was one of China’s top 100 philanthropists last year, according to a list released by the China Philanthropy Research Institute.

The 86-year-old came in at No. 82 after giving 15.2 million yuan (US$2.4 million) to the Practical Education Foundation, a body he set up in 2013 to improve the education of students from poor families in less developed regions.

He is one of only four people on the list who aren’t entrepreneurs. Joining Zhu is renowned calligrapher Shi Shiqi with charitable donations of 20 million yuan and two lottery jackpot winners who gave 20 million yuan and 12 million yuan to charity.

Jack Ma, founder and chairman of e-commerce company Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, tops the list after donating 35 million shares, worth 16.9 billion yuan, to charitable trusts.

Joe Tsai, Alibaba’s executive vice chairman, ranks second after donating 15 million shares while in third place is He Xiangjian, founder of the Midea Group, a domestic appliance manufacturer, with 425 million yuan in donations.

Fourth is 98-year-old Singaporean Chinese Tao Shing Pee, chairman of ShanghaiMart and founder of the Tao Shing Pee Education Foundation, followed by electronics chain stores owner Tang Lixin and property tycoon Wang Jianlin.

The China Philanthropy Research Institute was established in 2010 by Beijing Normal University and kung fu star Jet Li’s One Foundation. The institute issued its first philanthropists list in January 2012.

Of the top 100 philanthropists, 59 of them are engaged in real estate and manufacturing and 24 made donations of more than 100 million yuan, a record high.

Zhu was the only non-entrepreneur on the 2013 list, when he was ranked 70th after spending 20 million yuan from book royalties establishing his foundation.

When his first book was published in 2009, Zhu said all the proceeds would be used to help poor students and improve education, according to the People’s Daily website.

Zhu was Shanghai’s mayor and then Party chief from December 1987 to April 1991. He was China’s premier from March 1998 to March 2003.

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