Alibaba, Tencent, Xiaomi, among others pledge millions after deadly Hong Kong fire, Xi Jinping's plea — What we know

Hong Kong fire: Alibaba Group, Ant Group are among other companies like Tencent Holdings, Xiaomi Corp and TikTok's parent company ByteDance, which have pledged millions towards the fire relief funds after a deadly residential fire claimed the lives of at least 55 people in Hong Kong, reported the news agency Reuters on Thursday, 27 November 2025.

Top donors like Alibaba Group and its affiliate Ant Group have together donated 30 million Hong Kong dollars, while Alibaba Founder Jack Ma has pledged $30 million through his charity foundation. Others, like Anta Group and Tencent Holdings, have also donated 30 million Hong Kong dollars for the fire relief funds.

Xi Jinping's plea

Donations from the corporate giants soon started to flow after Chinese President Xi Jinping urged all-out efforts towards minimising the casualties and losses due to the deadly fire.

Xi Jinping also extended his condolences to the victims and firefighters who lost their lives in the fire in the Tai Po District residential building. He also shared his sympathies with the families of the victims and the people affected by the incident.

“Xi Jinping expressed his condolences to the victims and firefighters who died in the major fire in a residential building in Tai Po District, New Territories, Hong Kong, and extended his sympathies to the families of the victims and the affected people. He also urged all-out efforts to extinguish the fire and minimise casualties and losses,” according to the Chinese State Media's official announcement.

Here's how much companies have donated

• Alibaba Group and Ant Group — 30 million Hong Kong dollars
• Anta Group — 30 million Hong Kong dollars
• Tencent Holdings — 30 million Hong Kong dollars
• Xiaomi Corp — 10 million Hong Kong dollars
• ByteDance — 10 million Hong Kong dollars
• Mixue Bingcheng Co — 20 million Hong Kong dollars
• China Merchants Group — 20 million Hong Kong dollars

• Shangri-La Group — 10 million Hong Kong dollars
• PPD Holdings — 10 million Hong Kong dollars
• Baidu — 10 million Hong Kong dollars
• Geely (Zhejiang Geely Holding Group) — 10 million Hong Kong dollars
• Lenovo — 10 million Hong Kong dollars
• Xtep Group — 20 million Hong Kong dollars
• Du Xiaoman — 10 million Hong Kong dollars
• Midea Group — 10 million Hong Kong dollars
• Wens Foodstuff — 40 million Hong Kong dollars
• Trip.com Group Ltd — 10 million Hong Kong dollars
• NetEase — 10 million Hong Kong dollars

• BYD — 10 million Hong Kong dollars
• Guangzhou Xiaopeng Motors (XPeng) — 5 million Hong Kong dollars
• Be Friends Holdings — 1 million Hong Kong dollars
• Fuguiniao Group — 5 million Hong Kong dollars
• China Red Cross — 2 million Yuan.

Hong Kong fire

According to a CNBC report, the fire, which blazed through the Wang Fuk Court building in the Tai Po district of Hong Kong, is the deadliest fire since the year 1948. Back then, a warehouse fire killed 176 people on the site.

The recent fire at the Wang Fuk Court was at an eight-tower public housing complex in northern Hong Kong, which was home to 4,600 people living in 2,000 apartments, as per the agency report.

The agency report also highlighted that the fire started from a bamboo section scaffolding, which was around the complex, which eventually spread to other buildings through the wooden poles and the protective netting.