The world's best father (...or father-in-law)? Generous Chinese businessman gives £100million dowry ahead of daughter's lavish wedding

New bride: Wu Ruibiao's daughter was given four boxes of gold jewellery, a bankbook with deposits worth £2m and an impressive property portfolio
A wealthy Chinese tile magnate gave his daughter a gigantic £100million dowry that included four boxes of gold jewellery, shares and several homes for her lavish wedding.
The extravagant gift included four boxes of gold jewellery, a bankbook with deposits worth £2m (20m yuan) and an impressive property portfolio.
Pictures of the generous dowry were posted online on Sunday, at the end of the 'eight-day banquet', which took place in Cizao town, Jinjiang county, in eastern China's Fujian province.
Wu Duanbiao, chairman of ceramics firm Fujian Wanli Group, gave his daughter's new husbandreal estate including a retail store in Quanzhou, the Olympic villas and the Wanda mansion.
He also bequeathed the newlyweds 500m shares in his ceramics firm worth more than £10m (100m yuan).
Wu also gave donations worth £1.5m (15m yuan) to two charities, according to local media reports.
The bridegroom, a civil servant whose surname is Xu, had known his new wife since they were classmates in kindergarten.
A spokesman for Wu's firm, Wanli management, confirmed the endowment, but denied the wedding was to be the 'eight day open-air banquet' described in the internet post and said that Wu would 'keep things simple'.
The post claimed the wedding banquet was beginning on December 28 would last eight days to entertain public guests.

 

Many readers of the weibo website praised Wu for donating to charities and his display of love for his daughter, according to

Perfect present: The groom - a civil servant - will now be the proud owner of prime real estate including a retail store in Quanzhou, Olympic villas and the Wanda mansion

Bestowing expensive dowries has long been a Fujian marriage tradition, particularly in the Jinjiang and Shishi areas.
The tradition is sometimes seen as a manifestation of gender inequality in the region, because expensive dowries are supposed to ensure the bride will be treated well by her husband and in-laws.
Apple Daily featured a one-page report on the Jinjiang tradition last year, titled 'Marrying a Jinjiang bride is better than robbing a bank'.
Last month, another Jinjiang billionaire married off his daughter with a dowry worth more than 2billion yuan, following the example of Hengan International's chairman, who paid 2.5 billion yuan for his niece’s wedding a year ago.