According to information on the Ministry of Public Security (MPS) website, five foreign NGO representative offices have de-registered in recent months. This makes a total of seven foreign NGOs that registered after the Foreign NGO Law went into effect in January 2017 and subsequently de-registered. Only two foreign NGOs had de-registered their representative offices in the first two years of the law’s implementation.
The recent spate of de-registrations occurred between late March and mid-June. The China Foreign NGO Project reached out to all five de-registered organizations to ask about their change in status, but only heard back from Germany’s World Future Council (世界未来委员会基金会). Regarding its de-registration, the Council told The China NGO Project via email that it “had to deregister as [it] could not meet the Chinese requirement of finding and securing funds from a German donor to send funds from our head office in Hamburg to the China office.” The China NGO Project was unable to clarify whether this means that the Council was unable to find a German donor who was willing to go through the bureaucratic process of sending funds through the group’s headquarters in Hamburg, or whether it means that the Council had previously been receiving donations directly from donors within China and is now unable to find German donors to provide funding.
It is unclear if the remaining four recent de-registrations were the result of similar issues or for other reasons entirely.
The following is a list of the five recently de-registered organizations, along with information about their previous operations in China:
The Europe-China Culture and Economy Commission (Belgium)
欧盟中国经济文化委员会
Registered: August 4, 2017
Permitted Area of Operations: Henan province
Scope of Work: Primarily functioned as a liaison to promote economic, cultural, and trade exchanges and cooperation between the European Union and Henan province.
Professional Supervisory Unit: Henan Department of Commerce
De-registered: March 26, 2019
The World Future Council (Germany)
世界未来委员会基金会
Registered: July 9, 2018
Permitted Area of Operations: Throughout mainland China
Scope of Work: Issues related to urban sustainable development.
Professional Supervisory Unit: Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development
De-registered: April 9, 2019
The KYOTO Industrial Support Organization 21 (Japan)
日本公益财团法人京都产业
Registered: November 22, 2017
Permitted Area of Operations: Throughout mainland China
Scope of Work: Promoting economic and trade development, as well as investment and technology exchanges between China and Japan.
Professional Supervisory Unit: Shanghai Commission of Commerce
De-registered: May 20, 2019
The Confederação Nacional do Transporte (CNT) (Brazil)
巴西全国运输联合会
Registered: November 28, 2017
Permitted Area of Operations: Beijing
Scope of Work: Non-profit activities related to the businesses of its affiliated companies.
Professional Supervisory Unit: Beijing Commission of Transport
De-registered: June 10, 2019
The Association for Suppliers of Printing, Publishing and Converting Technologies (NPES)
美国NPES全美印刷、出版和纸品加工技术供应商协会
Registered: December 8, 2017
Permitted Area of Operations: Throughout mainland China
Scope of Work: Conducting market research and activities related to the printing industry.
Professional Supervisory Unit: Shanghai Commission of Commerce
De-registered: June 18, 2019