New reports are suggesting alumni donations to their alma maters in China have been on the rise in recent years.

The analysis comes after a donation by Xiong Xinxiang, CEO of Born Group, to his alma mater totaling 1.03 billion yuan.

Xiong is a graduate of the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China in Chengdu, Southwest China's Sichuan province.

According to a recent report released by the China Charity Alliance (CCA), donations toward education have exceeded donations to other areas, including medicine and health. The report says alumni contributions have accounted for large portions of the donations in education.

In 2015, a total of 12 domestic universities received single donations exceeding 50 million yuan ($7million) from their alumni.

But unlike universities in other countries, donations only make up a small proportion of funding for Chinese institutions.

The review by the China Charity Alliance shows only an average of 0.54% of operational budgets among Chinese universities come from donations.