China needs a new law to ensure the healthy development of its
charity industry.
So said both experts and celebrities at this year's sessions of
the country's top legislative and advisory bodies held earlier this
month.
Yang Lan, a well-known TV hostess and member of the Chinese
People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), said it was
necessary to establish a law that would make the donation procedure
simple and transparent, legalize qualified organizations and make
access to charities easy.
Yang, who last year ranked second on Hurun's China Philanthropy
list, is not alone in proposing the introduction of a charity
law.
Chen Tiedi, president of the Shanghai Charity Foundation (SCF),
said: "We need such a law, and we need it badly."
He said China had 13 years' experience developing charities
since the China Charity Federation (CCF) and SCF were set up in
1994. Statistics show that the country now has more than 280,000
charitable organizations and more than 1,100 charitable
foundations, with more being set up all the time.
"We need a law to help solve the problems facing charitable
organizations and to facilitate their further development," Chen
told?in a recent interview.
He suggested the law should stipulate clearly how the government
will support charitable organizations and the enterprises that
donate to them. It should also promote regular communication
between the government and charities.
"The law should offer preferential treatment for enterprises
that make donations, require that government departments regularly
send aides to communicate with charitable organizations, and
encourage greater 'charity consciousness'," Chen said.
Citing statistics, Chen said that in 2006, corporate donations
to charities, which came from just 1 percent of the country's more
than 10 million enterprises, amounted to about 13.5 billion yuan
(US$1.74 billion), equivalent to 0.05 percent of GDP. In developed
countries this proportion is generally between 3 and 5 percent,
Chen said, adding that China has a large population of disabled,
aged and poor people in need of help.
To encourage more philanthropic behavior, it has also been
suggested that companies should be offered more incentives to make
charitable donations.
Chen Shouyi, a CPPCC member from Ningbo, said: "This could be
achieved either by offering tax incentives or lowering thresholds
for entry into the non-governmental charity fund.
"However, the situation would have to be closely supervised to
prevent companies using the charity law as a way to evade paying
tax."
Tong Baohai, an NPC deputy, said the new law should also address
the operation of charitable funds and management of employees and
volunteers to ensure all donations end up in the right place.
"We have to eliminate those people who take advantage of
charitable events to make money for themselves," Tong said.
(China Daily March 28, 2007)