The charitable cause in China continues to be a direct
beneficiary of the country's rapidly growing economy.
According to the 2006 China Philanthropy List issued by
hurun.net, from 2003 to 2006, the country's Top 50 enterprises and
entrepreneurs donated almost 5.1 billion yuan (about US$638
million) to charitable causes in many areas including education,
social welfare, public health, and accident and disaster
relief.
Charity as a concept is increasingly being recognized as an
effective means of achieving some balance in wealth distribution.
According to a recent survey, 71.9 percent of the respondents
believe it is the obligation and responsibility of everyone to
contribute to the public welfare system, with 78.7 percent saying
that they had taken part in charitable activities at least once
before.
The survey, which interviewed 5,000 people, was jointly
conducted by China Youth Daily's Social Investigation
Center, tencent.com, and sina.com.
However, the survey also revealed that confidence in charity
organizations and their efficacy is low.
Some 70.8 percent of the respondents said they would prefer to
participating in activities organized by their own companies or
units; 67.6 percent said they would rather make donations to people
raising funds on the streets; 54.7 percent choose instead to buy
charity lotteries or bonds; and a further 28.6 percent said they
donate blood. Only 21.5 percent of respondents would voluntarily
take part in activities conducted by social organizations or
foundations.
Corruption is a major concern for potential donors. The current
lack of adequate regulations or system of supervision of charitable
organizations offers no guarantee of the proper use of
donations.
Experts like Professor Xia Ye from Peking University therefore
urge that the public be given access to any relevant information
concerning their donations, through the Internet, for example.
Statistics from the Ministry of Civil Affairs released on
January 17 showed that in 2006, governments at all levels received
more than 3.52 billion yuan (US$44 million) in funds, 58.037
million pieces of clothing and bed-linen, and other materials worth
540 million yuan (US$67.5 million). The number of beneficiaries was
about 19.224 million person-times. At the end of 2006, 1,138
charity funds had been established, representing an increase of
13.9 percent from 2005.
Professor Deng Shengguo, director of the NGO Research Center
under the School of Public Policy and Management at Tsinghua
University, said that charity through social organizations is the
way to go for charity in these modern times.
The key obstacles to an efficient charity system in China are
corruption and a lack of supervision, and the government itself,
according to him.
He explained that participation in a charitable cause is a
voluntary act, not one in response to an administrative
command.
Yang Tuan, deputy director of the Social Policy Research Center
at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, echoed Prof. Deng's
view. Analyzing the survey results, he pointed out that 29 percent
of the respondents were actually ordered to donate part of their
salaries to charity, and this gives rise to another problem.
"Chinese people want to help one another, but don't know how,"
Yang lamented.
(China.org.cn by Wang Ke, January 23, 2007)
