On Sept 12, as part of a series of press conferences held by the State Council Information Office, Minister Tang Dengjie of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, Vice Minister Zhan Chengfu, spokesman Li Baojun, and other relevant officials introduced the current situation regarding the promotion of high-quality development in civil affairs work in China and answered questions from reporters.
“Society is increasingly focusing on philanthropy, and people are becoming more engaged in it,” Tang said. According to statistics, there are more than 13,000 registered charitable organizations in China. The scale of charitable donations has steadily increased, and the charity system has been improved, making the concept more popular among the public.
Charities have played a positive role, especially in areas such as poverty alleviation, pandemic prevention and control, rural revitalization, education, healthcare, ecological protection, and emergency relief, according to Tang. On the eighth China Charity Day (Sept 5) this year, the 12th “China Charity Award” commendation ceremony was held in the Great Hall of the People, honoring numerous charity projects, businesses, individuals, and more.
“Going forward, we will continue to promote the high-quality development of philanthropy with Chinese characteristics,” Tang said, “focusing mainly on three aspects: adhering to the correct direction of charity development, actively guiding and supporting capable enterprises, social organizations, and individuals to participate in public welfare and philanthropy, and strengthening charity supervision.”
Currently, there are nearly 900,000 social organizations in China, including nearly 10,000 foundations. Social organizations employ about 11 million people, and their total assets exceed 580 billion yuan ($79.34 billion). Social organizations have made significant contributions to building a moderately prosperous society in an all-round way, Zhan said.
