“Giving China: The Annual Report on Philanthropy” was released by the China Charity Alliance on November 2 in Beijing. According to the report, donations from domestic and international sources totalled 139.294 billion RMB, reaching a new historic high. The report notes that the Charity Law was officially implemented in 2016, and its authoritative and instructive legal effects quickly made themselves felt. Many relevant policies were introduced and several key problems in various sectors were addressed. What’s more, the law has directly promoted social donations over the past year.
In 2016 China’s economy remained stable, and the good momentum made its effect felt on charitable donations. Total donations reached 139.294 billion RMB, accounting for 0.19% of China’s GDP and 25.65% higher than the amount donated in 2015. Per capita giving was 100.74 RMB, increasing 23.32% compared to 2015. The report also included a lateral comparison with related data from the US and the UK. In 2016, charitable giving totalled around 2,570.66 billion RMB in the US, accounting for 2.1% of the national GDP, while per capita giving was around 7,957.1 RMB. The donations in the UK totalled around 86.81 billion RMB, 0.52% of the national GDP, and per capita giving was around 1,316.5 RMB. The quantity of China’s charitable donations has thus got close to that of developed countries in Europe, and China’s annual growth rates for total charitable giving and per capita giving are much higher than in the US and UK.
The three main fields that received social donations (社会捐赠, meaning non-governmental donations) are education, health, and poverty alleviation and development, which accounted for 30.44%, 26.05% and 21.01% of the total donations respectively. Out of these, the increase in the fields of poverty alleviation and development was almost 10%, meaning that more and more private resources are going towards poverty reduction.
Corporate giving to charities broke through the 90 billion RMB mark in 2016, reaching 90.82 billion, and increasing by 15.86% (12.435 billion RMB) compared to 2015. The largest source of donations was thus still enterprises, out of which private enterprises (as opposed to state-owned ones) contributed almost 50%. Meanwhile individual donations developed at galloping speed in 2016 and reached 29.377 billion RMB, which was 21.09% of the total and represents a year-on-year increase of 73.52%. Common people have grown to be a leading force behind donations, indicating that charitable giving is turning into a lifestyle.
Social donations were mainly directed at foundations and the charity system, which received 62.550 billion RMB and 40.409 billion RMB respectively in 2016. National government departments, public institutions and organizations received 26.064 billion RMB in 2016, reflecting their important position in calling upon and receiving social donations. Additionally the Red Cross of China received 2.794 billion RMB, an increase of 16.06% compared to the amount in 2015.
The Ministry of Civil Affairs assigned 13 charitable organizations’ online philanthropy platforms in 2016. Among them, the Tencent Gong Yi (腾讯公益平台), Ant Group Gong Yi (蚂蚁金服公益平台) and Taobao Gong Yi (淘宝公益平台) platforms raised 1.289 billion RMB, 37.79% higher than the figure for 2015. Looking at the age groups of the donors, the generation born in the 80s ranked first, taking up more than 45%. Medical and educational assistance were the fields that earned the most online donations, followed by disaster relief and environmental protection. Besides, mobile devices have become the top channel for Internet philanthropy; the amounts donated via mobile phones represented more than 70% of the total. Lastly, looking at the locations of the donations, Guangdong, Beijing, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai were the regions with the most donors comparatively.
