A ranking of Chinese tycoons' donations to their alma maters has been released, following the controversy over an entrepreneur who gave a record $8,888,888 to Yale University in the US.

An independent Chinese website focusing on alumni affairs, www.cuaa.net, carried out research on tycoons listed in five rich lists such as Hurun and Forbes from 1999 to 2009 and found alumni from Zhejiang University "the most generous".

Duan Yongping, 49, a tycoon involved in the electronic appliance business, came out first in the list for donating 248 million yuan ($37 million) to Zhejiang University. Duan, who was an undergraduate in Zhejiang University from 1977 to 1982, ranked 71st on the Forbes rich list in 2003 and 340th with a fortune of 3 billion yuan on last year's Hurun rich list.