China Philanthropy

Positive News for China's Social Sector

China’s social sector has taken quite a hit recently with charity scandals left and right. The result has been a sharp decline in donations to nonprofits and even a reduction in blood donations. It’s easy to forget that good things are still happening, but today let us remind you with some positive updates. 

More Aid for Street Children: The Chinese government has promised to ramp up its protection of street children and be “more pro-active” in helping them by tracking down their families or putting them in foster care as part of a 10 year outline focused on women and children. The China Daily reports that the government will concentrate on children forced or coerced into theft, begging and prostitution. For more on the plight of street kids, check out our post on Baoji Xinxing Aid, an NGO that engages the community in helping children get off the street.

Global Fund Lifts China Grant Freeze: Late last year, the Geveva-based Global Fund, which provides grants to fight HIV/AIDS and other diseases, pulled its funding from China after finding that grassroots NGOs were not getting enough of it. While Global Fund has not completely resolved its conflict with the government, they are lifting their grant freeze. Chinese grassroots NGOs will now be able to directly apply for funding, and the Fund’s over $200 million will again make an impact on disease treatment and prevention in China. More info in Chinese here and here.

NGO Incubators Heat Up: NGO incubators provide a crucial service in the development of China’s social sector. Over the past two years, Guangzhou’s NGO incubator has helped 19 organizations (including two grassroots groups) obtain legal registration under the Guangzhou Municipality Bureau of Civil Affairs. Last year Beijing’s Nonprofit Incubator successfully graduated its first six organizations. The group, which is part of a four-city network of incubators, recently signed an agreement with the Beijing Municipal Committee to run the new Beijing Municipal Social Organization Incubation Center. The Center features office facilities, a multi-media meeting room, and space for activities where new organizations will be equipped to run impact-driven organizations.

Young and Inspired NGO Workers: Two of the young staff of Shoulder Action, an education-focused NGO, discuss what inspired them to join the nonprofit sector. This is my first introduction to the group, and they seem to take a very thoughtful approach to their work.

 

-Georgia, Sherry & Zoey

Regulation Reform for China’s Nonprofits

For years scholars, international organizations, and local nonprofits have called for China’s government to loosen regulations that make it difficult for three million nonprofits to legally register. The central and provincial governments have varied in their treatment of nonprofits with each region adopting their own policies. Over the past year, the Ministry of Civil Affairs (MCA), which governs the social sector, progressed from talking about new laws for the social sector to drafting and submitting them for review. Even so, they admit there is no specific timeline for the approval and implementation of these plans.

In this post we take a look at what laws the MCA proposed and the possible effects they will have on China’s social sector.

China’s 12^th Five-Year Plan
In July 2010, an article in Xinhua quoted an officer of the Legislative Affairs Office as saying the draft of a new charity law was “generally written.” Coinciding with these promised laws, the central government prepared for the 12^th five-year plan, which mapped out reform from 2011-2015. The major changes proposed to the social sector were: