Beijing strictly prohibits posing as a “social organization” in order to hold seminars and charge fees

The Beijing Civil Affairs Bureau announced its Measures for Managing Seminars, Forums and Activities Organized by Social Organizations.  According to the Measures, organizations must not pose as “social organizations” to organize seminars and forums, or charge fees.  Legal social organizations should report to their professional supervising units the content, goals, size and scope, place, time, source of funding, etc. of seminars and forums they intend to organize.  This measure, along with other guidelines and measures recently issued, can be seen as part of an effort by Civil Affairs to better regulate the sector in the absence of more comprehensive regulations and laws such as the Charity Law which has been held up for years.  For the full story in Chinese, see