The vice chairman of the NPC Standing Committee, Li Jianguo, has given some clarifications regarding the Draft of the Charity Law of the Fourth Session of the Twelfth National People’s Congress (NPC). After a lawmaking process which has lasted eleven years, suggestions and thoughts from related governmental bodies, research institutes and colleges, charities, and society in general have been integrated into the Draft.
The Draft specifies the entities of fundraising activities, an issue of widespread public concern. According to the Draft, charitable organizations are the legal entities which publicly operate fundraising activities; individuals who are not eligible to organize such activities can cooperate with charities to raise funds if this is based upon philanthropic purposes. The circumstance can occur that individuals, facing an emergency for themselves or their relatives, appeal and ask for donations from society. As it is hard to regulate this kind of fundraising, and donors can only blame the receivers morally but not legally if they misuse the funds, the Draft will neither prohibit this kind of fundraising nor regulate it, says Kan Ke, the vice-chairperson of the Legislative Affairs Commission of the NPC Standing Committee（人大常委会法制工作委员会）.
Concerning the management and operation of charitable organizations, the income of charitable organizations should be used entirely for philanthropic purposes; organizations should disclose the use of the donations they receive, says the Draft. It also specifies regulations concerning the record keeping（备案制度） of charitable trusts (慈善信托).
