中国慈善蓝皮书发布

On the heels of a series of scandals involving state charities, many people have described 2011 as a bad year for China’s charities. The country’s generosity ranked very low worldwide in a survey made by a British charitable foundation.

But the annual China philanthropy blue book published Friday says the total number of donations was appropriate considering the huge amount of donations offered following several natural disasters in 2010.

On Saturday, July 8th, a special charity sale was held at the Dandelion School in Beijing. Situated in the southern suburbs, it is Beijing’s only officially recognized middle school for the children of migrant workers. Many students come from particularly impoverished families.

Zheng Hong, principal of the Dandelion School, said, "Our goal is to take all our students to see a museum. We have more than six hundred people. It costs a lot for the transportation and entrance. We hope to get enough money through the activity."

Most of the items on sale are not from the school, but are donated by companies, individuals as well as NGOs.

Liu Ning & Shi Chunli, volunteers, said, “My husband and I brought some clothes and toys with us. I hope what we do can help those students.”

Li Jingxiang, local resident, said, “Many kids from migrant families are very smart and they deserve qualified education just as others.”

After a day’s work, the principal’s goal is realized and the students will have their museum trip in the new term.

China’s annual philanthropic blue book says the country’s charitable donations exceeded 84 billion yuan in 2011, an eighteen percent decrease from the year before.

Some scandals have underscored Chinese distrust of state charities. However, participation of social organizations including grassroots organizations is playing a more important role in balancing and diversifying the philanthropy.

Dou Chunxin, coordinator of China Women’s Development Foundation, said, “We specialise in raising funds for some schools like Dandelion. It has not been easy for grassroots organizations to be registered as an NGO. There are many restrictions.”

Shang Lifu, director of Beijing Normal Univ., said, “For philanthropy, China is different in terms of its residents’ income, tax policies and culture, so it is not objective to compare it with many other countries. But transparency matters in whichever country. I think grassroots organizations should be further fostered, as they are rooted in community. How they make use of donations can be easily seen. It’s very tangible. So people are more willing to participate.”

Charitable activities aimed at helping the disadvantaged is a custom of the Chinese people. There are many charities, and deregulation of grassroots charitable organizations might be a solution to the current philanthropic dilemma facing China. After all, the prevailing concept in modern philanthropy is that everyone can be charitable.