The submission of China's first draft charity law to the State Council is an important step towards regulating and encouraging philanthropy in the world's most populous country marked by an increasingly big wealth gap.

A Ministry of Civil Affairs official said on Sunday that the problem with charity work is no longer indifference and unwillingness to help the needy, but lack of information of how to donate and manage.

It is true that more and more individuals, companies and organizations are involved in the charity cause in recent years, especially since last year when the Sichuan earthquake on May 12 evoked an outpouring of love and care for those who suffered. According to the Ministry of Civil Affairs statistics, donations the nation received last year were valued at 107 billion yuan ($15.7 billion), an increase of 350 percent over the previous year.

However, it only accounted for 0.356 percent of our GDP, leaving a big potential for us to tap. The significance of charity work in today's China is obvious. It can help improve the livelihood of the disadvantaged, and bridge the wealth gap between the rich and the poor, and urban and rural areas. It plays a vital role in achieving social equity and harmony.

We have to clear many hurdles down this road. Just as the Ministry of Civil Affairs official pointed out, many citizens do not know where and how to donate. Some entrepreneurs who donate are mistaken for tax evaders because they do not have a team to design the project, track the use of money and manage public relations. Therefore, charity awareness should be further promoted, and methods and channels of donation should be made clear to the public. An information system showing who needs the most help should also be made known to charity organizations so that funds can be more precisely targeted.

Another big problem is that the public does not have faith in many charity organizations because of fund mismanagement and embezzlement. People prefer to donate directly to the beneficiaries, making it difficult to form a long-term mechanism for management. We hope the charity law, which stipulates on the organization and donation of charity and voluntary work and related policies that reward and encourage philanthropy, will provide needy legal guidance for those who want to help.

An encouraging sign in recent years is that grassroots social organizations have become increasingly active in charity. Many of them work on projects together with the government. Public participation is needed to shift the current government-domination pattern. This will ease the burden of the government, which can concentrate on providing a better platform for companies and individuals to carry out charity cause. Once the legal and institutional framework is fully established, the chief players in charity work should be private enterprises, social organizations and individuals.