A report on the Policy Environment for Chinese NGOs
Jul
23
2018
A report by NGOCN looks at the friendliness of the policy environment for local NGOs in China. Replete with interesting statistics and policy recommendations.
Keyword: Government Procurement
Draft of new regulations on government procurement of services released
Jun
29
2018
The Ministry of Finance publicly released the draft version of the “Government Procurement of Services Management Measures” on the 26th of June in order to gather public feedback. It is a common part of the Chinese legislative process for the government to release a draft version of a law or regulation for public consultation, so it can gather feedback from the public and interested parties. Up to now, the government policies in this field was based on a temporary version of the Measures. A report by the Charity Times summarizes the major policy changes which the draft version seems to portend, and explains what they will mean for charitable organizations. …read more
Total annual donations in 2015 exceed 110 billion, individual donations rise to 7.5 billion
Dec
7
2016
On November 29, the China Charity Federation issued the “2015 Annual Report on China’s Charitable Contributions” (hereinafter referred to as the Report) in Beijing. Drawing on nearly 110,000 entries of sample data, the Report makes an estimation of the total amount of domestic donations over the year and provides analysis on specific trends. According to the Report, China’s charitable donations have been on a steady rise and the annual total exceeded 110 billion RMB for the first time in 2015. The total amount of cash and material donations from both domestic and overseas sources reached 110.857 billion RMB, accounting for 0.16% of GDP, an increase of 6.631 billion RMB and 6.4% when compared with 2014. Domestic donations come mainly …read more
The Ningxia Autonomous Region takes new measures for targeted poverty alleviation
Sep
21
2016
In the Ningxia Autonomous Region, a region of Northwestern China that is small and relatively underdeveloped economically, new measures have recently been enacted to promote targeted poverty alleviation. The Autonomous Region’s first care site for left-behind children has been established in Xingjing, a small town subordinated to the Xixia district of Yinchuan. It provides 55 teenagers with living support, learning guidance, psychological comfort and safety education. In order to aid the protection of left-behind children in rural areas, Ningxia’s local government has also set up a panel to connect useful public resources in this field. The Xingjing district government is developing an agreement with a social services centre to purchase its services for …read more
Fifth session of the China Charity Fair to be held in Shenzhen
Jul
29
2016
The General Office of the Ministry of Civil Affairs released the “Notice on organizations participating in the fifth session of the China Charity Fair” on July the 19th. As stated in the Notice, the Charity Fair will be held from September 23 to September 25 in Shenzhen, with its main venue in the Shenzhen Convention & Exhibition Center and parallel venues in some communities in Bao’an District. The Notice explains that the Charity Fair will strive to implement China’s new Charity Law and the “Decisions of the Central Committee and the State Council on Fighting Against Poverty”, follow the ideas of innovation, coordination, green development, openness and sharing, focus on the …read more
Milestone for public interest lawsuits as Chinese company fined for causing air pollution
Jul
25
2016
On July 20, the Intermediate People’s Court in the city of Dezhou, Shandong Province, ordered the Jinghua Group Zhenhua Decoration Glass Limited Company to pay nearly 3.3 million dollars for its excessive emission of pollutants. More than a hundred tonnes of sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, and smoke dust were emitted, exceeding the maximum stipulated by regulations. The All-China Environmental Federation (ACEF), which brought up the lawsuit in March 2015, based the potential amount of damages on the offending company’s operating costs, with the hope that the case can provide a route to successful public interest litigation in the future. Ma Yong, the former deputy head of ACEF’s Environmental Legal Services …read more
Amendment passed to China’s Environmental Impact Assessment Law
Jul
21
2016
An amendment to China’s Environmental Impact Assessment Law was passed in the beginning of July. The law originally went into effect in 2003, aiming to mitigate the damage that construction projects cause the environment and promote the coordinated development of the economy, society and nature. Although it has played a positive role in the prevention of pollution and ecological damage, some loopholes in the legislation have also made themselves evident over the 13 years it has been in place, and calls for a revision were longstanding. The amendment includes a couple of salient points. First of all, the administrative requirements for EIAs have been weakened. Before it was amended, the …read more
Draft of the Determination of Philanthropy Organizations Guide released for public consultation
Jul
15
2016
In order to standardize the determination of philanthropic organizations and ensure the smooth implementation of China’s Charity Law, the Ministry of Civil Affairs has released a draft of the Determination of Philanthropic Organizations Law in order to collect public feedback. The draft was drawn up on the basis of reviewing practical experiences, conducting investigations, extensively collecting suggestions, and repeating studies and demonstrations. The draft and its full text are published so suggestions from all social sectors can be collected and the quality of the legislation can be further improved. The following three methods are available for any institutions or individual who has any suggestions for revision: Login to the website of the …read more
State council sets up work group on the government purchase of public services
Jul
4
2016
It was announced by the General Office of the State Council of the People’s Republic of China on June 27th that the State Council has decided to set up a Work Group on Government Purchases of Public Services. Zhang Gaoli (the Vice-Premier of the State Council) will serve as the director of the Work Group, and Lou Jiwei (Minister of Finance) and Ding Xiangyang (Vice Secretary of the State Council) will serve as the associate directors. “Government purchase of public services” refers to government contracts with social groups and agencies that take part of the government’s role upon themselves and provide designated social services to the public under a market mechanism. …read more
Illegal use of 151 million yuan in poverty alleviation funds reported
Jul
1
2016
On June 29, Liu Jiayi, the Auditor-General of the National Auditing Office of the People’s Republic of China reported to the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress on the 2015 national audit and government budget. Although both central and local government agencies have deepened their awareness of economic reform, some areas are still not legally regulated. The use of poverty alleviation funding is one of them. The National Auditing Office selected a sample of 40 counties in 17 provinces which received 10.998 billion yuan of poverty alleviation funding between 2013 and 2015. The auditors found that funds for 151 million yuan had been illegally used or anonymously withdrawn. In …read more
2016 China Child Welfare Week begins
Jun
1
2016
The 2016 China Child Welfare Week has been launched by the China Philanthropy Research Institute of Beijing Normal University on the 30th of May 2015, just before International Children’s Day. With the support of the Ministry of Civil Affairs (MCA) and the United Nations’ International Children’s Emergency Fund, this year’s China Child Welfare Week is focused on the establishment of a children’s welfare service system. During the launching ceremony, the Deputy Director of the MCA’s Social Welfare and Philanthropy Promotion office, Xu Jian, and the division chief of the Working Committee of Women and Children at the State Council, He Lianhui, delivered speeches. They emphasised that Chinese governments have paid …read more
“Free the Smiling Angels” Project to protect finless porpoises
May
6
2016
The start of the “Free the Smiling Angels” Project was officially announced yesterday by the Tianjin Fishery Administration Office in Tianjin’s Haichang Polar Ocean Park. On the same day two adorable wild finless porpoises called Yangyang and Xiaohua were successfully released into their home, the Yellow Sea. Finless porpoises are a kind of aquatic mammal closely related to dolphins. They are known for the wide smiles which they appear to maintain all the time. As Liu Qing, head of the local Institute of Zoology, explained: “finless porpoises are very lovely and like to be intimate with human beings. I feel very happy to see them gradually recover. I hope that more …read more
First guidelines for the evaluation of the Government Purchase Service Project released in Chengdu
Feb
6
2016
The first “Charity Chengdu” forum, jointly hosted by the Chengdu Municipal Committee of the China Zhi Gong Party and the Overseas Chinese Charity Foundation of Sichuan, was held in Chengdu on the 1st of February. The forum’s theme was “seeking a creative and standardized development”. During the event, the attending guests took part in a round-table on the themes of innovative entrepreneurship and corporate social responsibility, discussing the opportunities for social organizations to take part in the management of Chengdu, which is an international metropolis. In addition the first operational guidelines for the evaluation of the Government Purchase Service Project, jointly launched by the Chengdu Xin Min Social Organization Development …read more
The Supreme People’s Court validates environment lawsuit
Jan
22
2016
In a landmark ruling, China’s Supreme People’s Court has confirmed a sentence fining a company for polluting water resources in Taizhou, Jiangsu Province. From 2011 to 2013, six companies that make chemical products in the Taixing economical development zone, including the Changlong and Jinhui Companies, poured more than 20 thousand tons of acid waste into the Rutai Canal and the Guma River in Taizhou through illegal companies operating without hazardous waste disposal qualifications, causing serious pollution to the local water resources. This incident was exposed by the media in 2012, and the 14 people involved were given sentences ranging from 2 to 5 years in prison in 2014. Later on, the …read more
Beijing government plans to purchase 500 different services from social organizations in 2016
Jan
15
2016
The Beijing Municipal Social Work Committee and the Beijing Social Office announced that the Beijing government would continue to purchase 500 services from various social organizations at different levels in 2016, using Beijing’s special fund for social construction. The services purchased can be divided into five categories and 30 aspects, including social public services, social charitable services, community services, social governance services and social decision advisory services. This method of purchasing services by the government encourages more social organizations to get involved with social issues and contributes to create a modern system of social organizations. Since being set up six years ago, the Beijing special fund for social construction has …read more
Floating bridges: the disadvantaged position of fund-granting officers
Dec
21
2015
In this article Nan Yizhi, a young project officer, describes herself as being a bridge connecting grassroot NGOs on the one side and grant-making foundations on the other. The limitations and problems of the sector render both sides unstable, and the bridge is thus in a disadvantaged position.
Strategies for the Internationalization of Chinese NGOs: A Study by Huang Haoming
Jun
1
2015
Executive Director of CANGO, Huang Haoming, summarises his research on the internationalization of Chinese NGOs, analysing current challenges, making policy recommendations, and viewing the participation of NGOs in China’s overseas aid as an opportunity to enhance Chinese soft power
New regulations on government procurement of services implemented
Jan
6
2015
On January 1st 2015, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Civil Affairs and the State Administration for Industry and Commerce jointly published the latest version of the “Provisional Measures on the Management of Government Procurement of Services”.