China’s Ministry of Civil Affairs may start randomly inspecting non-governmental organisations. The bureau had been seeking public input until last Friday over its proposal to conduct such inspections of domestic NGOs. The proposal covers community groups, trust foundations, industry organisations and other non-profit groups that are registered under civil affairs authorities. At least three per cent of all registered organisations would be inspected, with a focus on their information disclosure, management and finances. Charity workers in China say NGOs being ‘pulled out by the roots’ According to Xinhua, there were 675,000 registered domestic NGOs as of September of last year. However, there are also many groups focused on sensitive areas like human rights or labour disputes that are not registered with civil affairs authorities, and are subject to frequent crackdowns. A 2011 scandal over corruption at the Red Cross in China saw the credibility of domestic charitable organisations diminished. Currently, NGOs are required to submit annual reports to the relevant authorities. The proposed random inspections would be overseen by the Ministry of Civil Affairs, but accounting or law firms could be appointed to assist with them, the ministry said. The results of the inspections would affect the NGOs’ eligibility for tax incentives, it added. Guo Meimei scandal shows Chinese Red Cross must clean up its act All expenses related to inspections would be paid by the NGOs’ supervisory organs, according to the proposal, which underscored that no fees would be collected from the groups being audited. Some smaller NGOs expressed concerns over the extra administrative burden. Zhang Hongbo, a full-time engineer who also runs a Shenzhen-based animal conservation group, said: “We only have a few staff and most are volunteers. Who would have time to deal with extra inspections?” Other groups were more welcoming to the proposal. Fan Zhiming, founder of the Shenzhen-based KIDO Public Welfare Culture Centre, said the inspections should cover a larger cross-section of the country’s NGOs than the proposed 3 per cent. Overseas NGOs in China uneasy about new oversight law “[They} should streamline existing checks and reporting measures, to reduce the administrative burdens on NGOs and increase transparency,” Fan added. NGOs should also get subsidised legal services to help them meet their regulatory requirements, he said. Professor Jia Xijin with Tsinghua University’s school of public administration said that passing such inspections should be a minimum legal requirement for NGOs to operate. “[The inspections] should not be used to determine the merits of NGOs – for example, whether they should qualify for subsidies or other preferential policies.”