Analysis
Since mid-2017, The China NGO Project has mapped the location of registered foreign NGO representative offices in China (as listed on the Ministry of Public Security website). Not surprisingly, the majority of offices are located in either Beijing or Shanghai. These maps, however, only show the provinces where each office is located—they do not show where each office is permitted to operate, which can (but does not have to) extend beyond the province of registration...Read more
Earlier this year, the China-based organization NGOCN released the results of a survey to determine how friendly the policy environment is for non-governmental charity groups across China. NGOCN surveyed domestic Chinese non-profits in 10 cities, compiling results from 680 completed questionnaires and around 80 focus group sessions. The China NGO Project has translated the infographic below from NGOCN’s original. (China Development Brief has also published an abridged version of the full report.){photo, 49441}Translated from the...Read more
As a result of applying the Foreign NGO Law on foreign adoption agencies, since July 2017 the Chinese government has prevented foreign adoption agencies from legally filing temporary activities in China, and has effectively shut down at least three major official programs that in the past have helped to facilitate international adoption.Read more
In an official document dated late July, the Shanghai Federation of Trade Unions, the city’s branch of the country’s official, Party-affiliated trade union, outlined the major themes of its work going forward, including preventing “enemy infiltration” alongside its work in managing foreign NGOs. The document’s articles discussing foreign NGOs strongly suggest that international organizations, at least in the labor sector, are viewed primarily as a national security, rather than a civil society, issue. Though the...Read more
What Does Charity Mean in China?
Despite the Charity Law’s Definition, the Answer Is Still Elusive
China’s Charity Law effectually governs a broad universe of non-profits while refusing to define essential terms. And, of course, organizations the government regards as sensitive—including some religious, political, human rights, and other independent associations of particular segments of civil society—will not be permitted to register despite likely compliance with the law. But what does it mean, under the Charity Law, for an activity to be “charitable”? Though the Charity Law for the first time provides...Read more