News

Sina Weibo’s 2015 “Attitudes Towards Environmental Issues” online survey

Sina Weibo, the Chinese microblogging service often compared to Twitter, recently published the results of a March 2015 online survey about Chinese attitudes towards environmental issues (中国网民环保态度调查). The survey began with initiatives mobilizing Weibo users to participate in small environmental …

Zhou Qiang: threshold for environmental lawsuits will be lowered

The Supreme Court encourages environmental organizations to bring public interest lawsuits, and it will lower the threshold for such lawsuits, Zhou Qiang, chief justice and president of China’s highest court, said during the 2015 Boao Forum for Asia. Zhou also…

Environmental lawsuits still too expensive

Although the new environmental protection law, enacted on January 1, 2015, gave more than 700 environmental protection organizations the authorization to bring environmental lawsuits, only two organizations – the All-China Environment Federation(ACEF) and Friends of Nature(FON) – have thus far…

“Charity Mum” Wang Yuqiong accused of fraud

A famous Chinese “charity” figure, Wang Yuqiong, has had new reports published on her alleged fraudulent dealings. Wang became famous several years ago when the media covered the story of her tireless journey to find her son who had been…

Law on eco-taxes gains momentum

Taxation on pollution and environmental damage – so-called “eco-taxes” – became a hot topic again during this year’s Liang Hui (annual meeting of the country’s legislature from March 5 to 15) when Jia Kang, former director of the Research Institute…

EU-China NGO twinning programs agree to merge

Robert Bosch Stiftung and Stiftung Mercator have agreed to combine their existing exchange programs into a joint initiative. The joint initiative will be named “EU-China NGO Twinning Program”. It will comprise the Stiftung Asienhaus “EU-China NGO Twinning Program”, which is…

2014 China Grassroots Transparency Rankings released in Shenzhen

The 2014 China Grassroots Transparency Rankings, sponsored by organisations including the Dunhe Foundation, Narada Foundation, SEE Foundation, Western Sunshine, and China Foundation Center, was released on March 15 in Shenzhen. The list was based around information from 1300 grassroots NGOs.…

Meeting on experimental charitable trusts held in Shenzhen

The Social Welfare and Charity Promotion Office of the Ministry of Civil Affairs (社会福利和慈善事业促进司) held a meeting on experimental charitable trusts in Shenzhen on March 13. The meeting aimed to discuss experimental projects of charitable trusts and solicit advice from…

NPC delegate: China needs “Good Samaritan” law

NPC delegate Wang Jincai has made new calls for legislation to protect China’s “good samaritans”. Wang said that the risks involved in helping people have prevented many from doing “heroic deeds”. In February, Meng Ruipeng, a college student, drowned after…

New spring festival donations trend: Hong Bao charity

The Chinese tradition of giving gifts of money in red envelopes (Hong Bao) during spring festival turned into a new fad for China’s internet users when internet giants Alibaba and Tencent both started offering electronic “Hong Bao” during the holiday.…

Charity law set to be reviewed by the NPC this year

The opinion-soliciting draft of the Charity Law [慈善事业法草案征求意见稿] was prepared in February and is ready to be reviewed by the National People’s Congress (NPC) at the end of this year, said Wang Shengming, director of the Committee for Internal and…

Liang Hui delegates give their opinions on public welfare issues

The opening of the annual meeting of Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) on March 3 kicked off this year’s Liang Hui (annual sessions of NPC & CPPCC ). Some delegates have voiced their opinions and submitted their proposals on…

New reports on child protection released before the Liang Hui

Two reports on child protection were released at a pre-CPPCC seminar hosted by the China Social Assistance Foundation on March 2, 2015. The two reports were titled the Primary School Teaching Plan on Child Sexual Assault (防性侵教育小学标准教案) and the Training…

New guidelines released on domestic violence

On March 4th China’s top judicial authorities, the Supreme People’s Court, the Supreme People’s Procuratorate, the Ministry of Public Security and the Ministry of Justice, jointly released the Guidelines on Criminal Cases Related to Domestic Violence (关于依法办理家庭暴力刑事案件的意见). The Guidelines clarify…

Zhai Meiqing: connect the public welfare sector with the financial system

Zhai Meiqing, president of the Heung Kong Group (香江集团) and member of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), has submitted a proposal to the Committee, calling for the establishment of supporting mechanisms for non-public fundraising…