Philanthropy and Third Sector in China : Overview, Extent, Activities, and Impacts

This is a part of a major work undertaken by the Asia Pacific Philanthropy Information Network (APPIN. This segment on China is divided into three sections. The first section provides an overview of philanthropy, the third sector, historical growth, policy environment, and the laws related to incorporation and tax treatment of the third sector. The second section provides an overview of an activity-based classification, identifying various fields internationally where non-profit organizations are active. The Johns Hopkins Comparative Nonprofit Sector Project developed the International Classification of Non-Profit Organisations or ICNPO. We used this classification to explore the variety of third sector activity in each country, but we extended the ICNPO to include trading co-operatives. The third section provides an overview of the extent, focus, and impacts of ‘grant making foundations' in the country. China has a long history of philanthropy, but it disappeared when the Communist Party took power in 1949. Since the 1980s, philanthropy has been reviving along with the reform and open door policy in China. In 1989, as a part of the efforts of rebuilding China's legal systems, the 'Regulations for Registration and Administration of Social Organisations' was enacted. Further, the Yangtze River's catastrophic flood in 1998 reinvigorated philanthropic efforts of the general public in China. In the first year following the flood and its disaster China's Charities Federation, the Red Cross Society of China, and other third sector organisations collected more than 11.5 billion yuan ren min bi (RMB). The philanthropic and third sector activities have been growing since. The government promotes social intermediary organisations for economic and social services, community-based service organisations, and public-benefit organisations. The government's policy towards the third sector organisations outside the above preferred categories is quite harsh. Any privately created third sector organisations with political intention or pursuit is not allowed. Advocacy organisations as seen in the Western countries have little scope to survive under the policy environment