Also among the confirmed names are dairy giant Niu Gensheng, kungfu movie actor Jet Li, car maker Wang Chuanfu, real estate developer Zhang Xin, glass maker Cao Dewang and e-commerce titan Ma Yun.

China is second to the United States in number of billionaires.

But many of the Chinese titans invited to the dinner have been slow to respond to the event due to their fears of being pressured to donate.

Property developer Wang Jianlin has shunned the invitation, saying it is more important to build a stronger company to help more Chinese people than donating money now.

Software magnate Gates and investment baron Buffett insisted in a letter to Xinhua News Agency earlier this month that they will not pressure China's super-rich to give away their money at the banquet.

The two, who have succeeded in calling on 40 wealthy individuals and their families - including CNN founder Ted Turner and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg - to hand over more than half of their fortunes this June, said they hope simply to learn about China's approach to philanthropy on Sept 29.

Whatever the approach, the timing is good for Chinese rich to put their wealth back into society, experts say. China's Gini coefficient, a measure of income inequality, has been above the 0.4 benchmark since 2000, an alarming level that is far above most industrial countries' levels between 0.24 and 0.36.

"With the gap between the rich and poor becoming wider, charity is an excellent and voluntary way to redistribute wealth," said Zhou Qing'an, a researcher with Tsinghua University.

Giving is not new to the Chinese rich.