China has issued new regulations on the administration of public
welfare foundations, hoping to encourage more wealthy people to
commit to public welfare and thus foster new foundations, a senior
official said in Beijing Friday.?
"We still need more foundations to participate in public welfare
as we have inadequate non-profit organizations to meet the demand,"
Jiang Li, vice minister of civil affairs, told a press conference
sponsored by the State Council Information Office.
China had registered 1,200 foundations committed to public
welfare by making use of the assets donated by individuals or
organizations by the end of 2003, according to statistics released
by the ministry Friday.
The regulations, which will take effect as of June 1, have for
the first time divided foundations into two types: publicly-funded
foundations, which could raise funds from the public, and
non-publicly-funded foundations, which are not allowed to raise
funds from the public.
Jiang said such divisions were to mobilize more people to
participate in charitable activities and help utilize to the
maximum the public's social resources, especially those wealthy
groups.
"The introduction of non-publicly-funded foundations will
provide channels for people and enterprises who have gotten rich to
pay back society," said Jiang.
"More standardized social welfare activities by foundations will
help China resolve the problem of the widening gap between the rich
and poor," she said.
She said the Ministry of Finance and the State Administration of
Taxation are still discussing the specific preferential tax
policies for those individual or enterprise donors.
Meanwhile, overseas foundations win the go-ahead to establish
representative offices on the Chinese mainland but are not allowed
to solicit or receive donations on the Chinese mainland, according
to the new regulations.
"We have to protect the limited charity resources by regulating
the publicly-funded foundations on a certain scale," Jiang said,
adding such restrictions won't hinder overseas donors'
enthusiasm.
The national publicly-funded foundations are required to raise
at least 8 million yuan (about US$964,000) before registration
while individuals and enterprises hoping to establish
non-publicly-funded foundations are required to donate at least 2
million yuan (US$241,000).
Doors open to international foundations
The Ministry of Civil Affairs on Friday announced that overseas
groups or individuals will be allowed to establish foundations in
China, along with representative offices.
As of June 1, the ministry will begin registration of overseas
foundations that used to have no official identity, or were
operating without proper designation.
"Basically, overseas foundations will be treated the same way
domestic organizations are handled as long as they abide by our
rules," said Li Bengong, director of the ministry's Department of
NGO Administration at the press conference on Friday.
Overseas foundations' activities in China must be consistent
with the country's public welfare rules. In the meantime, they
should be responsible for what they do according to Chinese laws,
he said.
The new regulation issued by the ministry is winning wide
approval from the representatives from overseas foundations in
China.
"It's such good news," said Wang Chao, deputy director of World
Vision (China). "We've been expecting it for years."
The international organization, founded in the United States,
has spent a total of 460 million yuan (US$55.4 million) on poverty
relief in China for two decades.
But without legal status, the organization has been encountering
difficulties whenever it tried to launch a project to help those in
need, especially in the less developed western regions.
"We had problems even when opening a bank account or employing
people," said Wang.
The Ford Foundation, which was luckier to avoid difficulties by
registering under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, or host
organization, also welcomes publication of the new regulation.
"It's very important to have a clear legal framework for
international foundations so they will be able to carry out their
work legally and properly in China," said Andrew Watson,
representative of the China Office of the US$10.5-billion global
foundation.
In the new regulation issued by the ministry, foundations are
for the first time divided into publicly funded and non-publicly
funded foundations. Overseas foundations are included into the
latter category.
(Sources including Xinhua News Agency and China Daily, March 20,
2004)