In order to protect the lawful rights and interests of social organizations (local term that includes NGOs) and promote their “healthy and orderly development”, China’s Ministry of Civil Affairs (MCA) recently drafted a set of new measures to “standardize the management of the names of social organizations”.
The MCA has released “Administrative Measures for the Names of Social Organizations (Draft for Comment)” and is calling for public feedback to further improve the quality of the legislation. Comments can be sent through the MCA’s official website (www.mca.gov.cn), emailed to dangjianruzhang@163.com or mailed to the Social Organization Administration, Ministry of Civil Affairs, No. 6 Jianguomen South Street, Chaoyang District, Beijing (Postal Code: 100721).
The deadline for sending feedback is Nov 23.
The new measures clearly state that only one name can be registered for each social organization, and the name of a social organization is protected by law.
The measures also clarify that the registration and administration organs of social organizations under the people’s governments at or above the county level shall be responsible for the administration of the names of social organizations registered by their own organs.
The MCA shall be responsible for guiding the administration of names of social organizations nationwide and formulating specific regulations for the administration of names of social organizations.
For these purposes, the MCA has established a national social organization credit information publicity platform, enabling public inquiries about the official name of a registered social organization.
