Elderly Receive 2 Million Won Each for Holidays... Chinese Tycoon Visits Hometown Again This Year

Visiting Hometown Elders Every Holiday
Gifting Cash and Expensive Household Goods
Repaying the Kindness Received During a Poor Childhood

As the Chinese Lunar New Year, the largest festival in China, begins on the 28th of this month, a Chinese company chairman who visits his hometown every year during the Lunar New Year to give cash and expensive household goods to the elderly is drawing attention.

According to the Hong Kong media South China Morning Post (SCMP) on the 13th, Liu Changdong (51), founder and chairman of the Chinese e-commerce company 'JD.com,' visits his hometown, Guangming Village in Suqian City, Jiangsu Province, eastern China, every Lunar New Year to gift the elderly cash, food, clothing, and high-end household appliances. Liu ranked 427th on the 'Hurun Global Rich List' announced in April last year, with a net worth of 49.5 billion yuan (approximately 9.898 trillion KRW).

This year as well, it is reported that he gave 10,000 yuan (about 2 million KRW) in cash to seniors aged 60 and above. A farmer surnamed Xu living in Liu’s hometown told local media on the 3rd, "The village committee said Liu would visit the village on the 8th," adding, "The committee asked us to submit copies of our household registration and ID cards so that Liu could distribute gifts to us."

Liu’s benevolence is said to have started as a way to repay the help he received from his hometown people during his impoverished childhood. Having graduated from elementary, middle, and high school in Guangming Village, his hometown, he received help from villagers to pay for his university tuition in the early 1990s due to his family’s financial difficulties. At that time, the villagers collected 500 yuan (about 100,000 KRW) in cash and 76 eggs for him. Reflecting on that time, Liu once said, "The help from the villagers was the starting point for me to step out into the world."

Since 2016, Liu and his wife have visited Guangming Village every year to give cash and expensive household goods to the elderly. Last year, he also visited Guangming Village and distributed over 1,000 down jackets and more than 1,000 gift sets to households with seniors aged 60 and above. A villager in his 70s told SCMP, "He has made a great contribution to the village even though he is not obligated to do so with the money he earned through hard work. We will never forget him."

Liu’s story has become a hot topic mainly on local social networking services (SNS). Most netizens responded with comments such as "This is not something anyone can do just because they have money. Truly amazing," "He still remembers the gratitude from his childhood. Respectable as a human being," "A conscientious and excellent businessman," "I want to become an adult like him," and "I’m moved to tears. Truly touching." However, some have raised suspicions, saying, "Isn’t this corporate promotion?"