Ministry of Civil Affairs: Support Public Welfare and Charitable Social Organizations to Directly Register

This article cites Li Liguo, the Minister of Civil Affairs calling for other localities to promote the Guangdong experience at a national Civil Affairs Work Conference held December 23, 2011. In doing so, he raises the question of whether the Ministry will adopt the Guangdong model in its revision of the national-level regulations for registration and management of social organizations. The Guangdong experience refers to a recent announcement made by provincial authorities to streamline the registration process for certain categories of social organizations starting July of 2012, and is seen by many observers as being the most liberal local initiative in streamlining the registration process. Social organizations in these categories would be able to register directly with the Civil Affairs office without having to find professional supervisory units to sponsor them. The article also mentions efforts by Beijing municipality to further simplify registration for certain classes of social organizations.