Collections donated by 102 celebrities from home and abroad were auctioned, earning 302,000 yuan for the region's needy children.

A painting by renowned painter Ke Liang was auctioned at 71,000 yuan (8,650 US dollars), the highest of all, while a pair of rackets from Swede Ping-Pong player Jan-Ove Waldner was also put on the auction block.

The China Foundation for Human Rights Development (CFHRD) has prepared for the auction since last year.

Waldner donated the pair of rackets he used at the men's final in the 2000 Olympic Games to the CFHRD during his visit to China in 2003.

China now has 1.46 million primary school dropouts and 4.97 million middle school dropouts, most of whom live in the less developed western China.

With the money, the CFHRD will set up a foundation to fund the dropouts to return to school, said Lin Bocheng, secretary general of the CFHRD.