(CNSPHOTO)

Yu Pang-lin, an 88-year-old Hong Kong hotelier, became the first Chinese to donate more than $1 billion for public welfare after he announced to have donated his remaining fortune worth $470 million to a foundation bearing his name on April 22.

With Yu's latest donation, the worth of the Hong Kong-registered foundation has hit $1.2 billion.

Yu's foundation, which has a mandate to make donations to health, education and disaster relief, has funded more than 150,000 cataract removal operations across China since 2003 and established a number of schools in poverty-stricken areas in west China.

Yu, who moved from the Chinese mainland to Hong Kong in 1958, made his fortune from scratch. His huge philanthropic donations over the past two decades have earned him the title of "China's Andrew Carnegie."

In 2009 alone, Yu donated $910 million to charity, said the latest Hurun Philanthropy List released by Shanghai-based Hurun Report Inc. The generosity put Yu on the top list for the fifth consecutive year since 2006.