Transparency requirements for charities issued at the weekend are a much needed step in the right direction given the scandals that have plagued philanthropic organisations in recent years, but the rules fall short of what needs to be done
What is truly needed is the long-awaited charity law, which has been on the drawing board since 2005. Mainland authorities must also make fundamental changes to how they view NGOs.
The mainland has seen philanthropy grow since the 2008 Sichuan earthquake. But donations fell 20 per cent, to about 80 billion yuan (HK$98 billion) last year, largely owing to the 'Guo Meimei' incident, which deepened public scepticism on the use of donation money in relief work.
Guo, 20, was criticised widely on the internet last summer after she claimed to be the 'commercial general manager' of the Red Cross Society of China, the mainland's biggest charity.
She bragged about her expensive handbags and cars on her micro-blog, prompting people to question how the charity's money was being used. Guo was later found to be working for a separate entity, which had a contract with the Red Cross.
More scandals followed. The Henan arm of the China Song Ching Ling Foundation, the mainland's third biggest charity, was found to have collected 3 billion yuan in assets in three years through extending loans to businesses. The Sino-African Hope Project came under scrutiny for appointing a 24-year-old to oversee a 2 billion yuan effort to build schools in Africa.