Over the past few decades, specifically since the Sichuan earthquake in 2008, civil society in China has been on the rise. What may seem like a contradictory statement: the co-existence of a communist government and a non-governmental organization has seemed to become a reality…or has it? Dr. Shawn Shieh, director of the China Development Brief (English) addressed the struggles non-profits have had gaining a definitive place in China, and in the eyes of the public.
Dr. Shieh began his presentation with what he deemed the “appetizers” by defining what exactly is the non-profit sector? By definition, non-profits are designed to fill gaps in service delivery that the government cannot provide. In the United States, this is done via fundraising, charity events, and advertising. In China, non-profits struggle to fit this definition. To begin, the oxymoron of non-governmental organizations in China is that they are rarely non-governmental. On one side of the spectrum, there are entirely government owned agencies, such as public institutions and state owned enterprises. In the middle there are quasi government owned agencies, such as neighborhood committees, mass organizations, and GONGOs (government owned non-governmental organizations—say what??) And then there are non-profits that are registered with the Civil Affairs Bureau, non-profits under the guise of businesses, and unregistered non-profits. Because of this wide spectrum, in which most are self-proclaimed “non-governmental agencies,” there is no clear definition as to exactly what is a non-profit. There also is no clear count of the number of non-profits within China, due to the number of unregistered NGOs and non-profits registered as businesses. Thus there are estimated to be between half a million and as many as 2.5 million grassroots associations in China. This leaves China with about 1 foundation per 650,000 people compared to the United States’ 1 foundation per 3000 people.
Based on an analysis done by Dr. Shieh on the current state of the non-profit sector, what are some of the findings? Dr. Shieh first discussed non-profit funding. Most non-profits in China are not allowed to publicly ask for funding and may not have a place for donations on their website. This of course leaves the question: how do these non-profits survive? The answer is that most non-for-profits are also literally no profits. Employees can barely be paid, and more funding does not go towards management training, etc, but rather towards the implementation of specific projects. Thus the non-profits run solely project-to-project and generally cannot attract the highest quality of staff.
Another issue regarding funding is where it comes from. The Chinese government tends to be more skeptical of international funding as opposed to domestic funding. In order to remain in favor with the government, finding local funding is the best solution.
A second finding is that certain types of non-profits have found more success than others. Environmental and education based non-profits have found far more success than those of legal aid and advocacy. Thus there are gaps in the services non-profits can provide. Also, for a brief comparison, environmental agencies in China receive an annual budget of about 30-50 RMB (4.6-7.7 million US dollars) compared to 3 billion in the United States.
Finally, many of the government owned non-profits lack transparency and accountability. Therefore, when scandals arise, such as a recent one with the Chinese Red Cross, non-profits lose appeal to the general public. An environment of giving and community service is not born over night. It must become engrained as a way of life, and that is difficult for the public to digest when many non-profits lack transparency and accountability. Overall, the future of the non-profit sector in China is still uncertain, but contrary to what many news stories portray, they at least do exist and are gaining ground.
For more information, visit Dr. Shawn Shieh's blog: www.ngochina.blogpot.com, his website: www.chinadevelopmentbrief.cn, or read his recent publications State and Society Responses to Social Welfare Needs in China: Service the People (Routledge, 2009) and "An Emerging Civil Society: The Impact of the 2008 Sichuan Earthquake on Grassroots Associations in China" (The China Journal, January 2011).
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