He isn't as widely known as philanthropist heavyweights Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, but Chinese tycoon Chen Guangbiao is no stranger to publicity.

Bucking the Chinese tradition of remaining low-key when making donations, Chen widely publicizes every single act of philanthropy. His self-promoting style has whisked him into a vortex of public debate, with pundits questioning whether his charity work is that of a megalomaniac or genuinely compassionate.

Chen is the first billionaire on the Chinese mainland to publicly declare he will donate all his wealth to charity upon his death. Currently he gives half his business' annual net profit to help the needy every year and has to date donated a total of money and materials worth more than 1.4 billion yuan ($216.45 million), directly benefiting some 700,000 people.

Chen, Chairman of Jiangsu Huangpu Recycling Resources Co. Ltd., has been engaged in charity work since 1998 when he established his first company. But from the outset he has ensured media was on hand to publicize his charitable deeds.

Examples of Chen's modus operandi are many. On one occasion on January 24, online forums and blogs crackled with chatter when Chen posted a photo of himself posing in front of a wall of banknotes, declaring he was to donate 127 million yuan ($19.54 million) of cash and materials to Xinjiang, Yunnan and north Jiangsu, along with 90 other entrepreneurs. This cash wall contained 150 cash bricks and each brick was 100,000 yuan ($15,385). 

In another incident on March 16, Chen visited the earthquake-hit Yingjiang City of Yunnan Province, and personally handed out 200 yuan ($29.4) to every resident of two villages. In total he donated 230,000 yuan ($35,385). He took photos of villagers holding up the cash and posted them online.

"I don't care if some people criticize my high-profile approach to charity; I believe those who doubt or criticize me today will be thankful to me some day in the future," Chen told ChinAfrica. "To do charity work, you must be magnanimous enough to listen to negative voices."