Deng Fei wants to register a nationwide public foundation
邓飞欲注册全国性公募基金会
By Yan Bing 闫冰, Philanthropy Times 公益时报, December 17, 2013
Deng Fei – one of the Chinese NGO sector’s most well-known and influential figures – received national recognition last week when he was awarded one of the top prizes at the CCTV Annual Charity Awards. Deng feels that not only is this an important affirmation of his work, it is also an important point for him to move forward from, to make new choices and decisions. One of these is his aspiration to establish a public foundation with a national scope.
A few weeks ago Deng Fei sent a message on Weixin to his group of followers, implying that he wants to be the first to “eat crab” [meaning ‘the first to do something’]. The message was interpreted to mean that he wants to register a foundation and be the first in China to register an NGO-originated nationwide public foundation. This interpretation was later confirmed by Deng.
Deng Fei’s confidence in this aspiration lies first in recent policy decisions: “We are greatly encouraged by the spirit of the documents that emerged from the Third Plenum” Deng said. “Those in the public welfare world, especially those in NGOs, feel especially heartened. The state is encouraging us, is rapidly developing social organizations. This is a good time for us, therefore we have a lot of confidence.”
Secondly Deng’s confidence lies in the success of his current projects, of which there are seven. “We have seven projects, five to do with children and two environmental ones. We need a unified foundation to connect these projects together, to co-ordinate them and therefore increase their efficiency. With the establishment of a foundation we could take all the time and energy previously taken to co-ordinate the projects and put it to better use, to better serve society.”
Summary by Tom Bannister. See article for full text
