Foundations. That’s the watchword in the world of charity in China today. Their rise is the manifestation of an unprecedented shift embracing philanthropy in the Middle Kingdom. Factors such as an increasingly international outlook, more disposable income, changes in law, environmental concerns and let’s be honest, tax breaks, are contributing to a view of helping others that dates back 3,000 years.
We have Confucius to thank. Throughout his teachings can be found the concept of assisting those less fortunate than oneself. These concepts of welfare were embraced by Confucian thinkers as long ago the Zhou dynasty (1047 BCE-772 BCE).
One of Confucius’ disciples, the philosopher Mencius, once said, “In poverty, one should still hold himself to a high standard; and when prosperous, one should contribute to the well-being of all”.
Buddhist monasteries have also pitched in throughout history. Their philanthropic initiatives inspired two princes from the Southern Qi dynasty (479-502 CE) to establish China’s first philanthropic organisation to aid the sick and destitute.
Yet when this correspondent arrived in China in 1993, there was not much charity to be seen. And that was because there simply wasn’t much money going around anyway. The State, of course, looked after all.
All that changed on 12 May, 2008. With a magnitude of 8.2 on the Richter scale, the Great Wenchuan Earthquake (汶川大地震) took over 69,000 lives, many of them schoolchildren.
The tragedy triggered an outpouring of grief by the Chinese. As luck would have it, the country had become a lot more prosperous in the intervening 15 years. Donations started pouring in. Volunteers signed up to go to Sichuan in their hoards. Donation boxes for the earthquake’s victims started appearing all over the country, especially in temples. Entertainment websites carried links to donation pages. A 4-hour, national TV special brought in donations totalling ¥1.5 billion.
When all was said and done, donating to charity in 2008 had trebled over the previous year.
The trend continued. As Britain’s newspaper, The Guardian noted in the following years, “Between 2010 and 2016, donations from the top 100 philanthropists in mainland China more than tripled to US$4.6 billion”.
But the masses were, to all intents and purposes, essentially handcuffed. Prior to 2016, social organisations lacking government support found it almost impossible to obtain public-fundraising status, while the criteria for such was shrouded in a haze of bureaucracy.
The Charity Law is what they were waiting for. At last, China now had a international-standard, transparent legal framework regulating charity. It would herald in a tectonic shift in the philanthropic landscape of China. It was also a handy tool for legitimising philanthropy for the role it plays in underpinning the name of that new political catchphrase, “common prosperity”. And for the more fiscally minded, it also set out in law how giving could lead to deductions in taxes due to the government.
With a comprehensive national law in place and the continuously growing prosperity of the new middle classes, Chinese givers are turning out to be a fairly young bunch, with most in their 30s and 40s.
That’s the opposite of in the USA, but that reversal in the demographic is also represented in giving from corporations versus individuals. In China, fully 80 percent of charitable donations still come from corporations.
Bringing us to those foundations mentioned earlier. According to their website, the China Foundation Centre has a comprehensive online database of over 7,000 legally registered foundations in China. That number has grown 500 percent since pre-Sichuan.
The China Foundation Centre also provides lists for foundations based on different criteria; total net assets, total income, total giving and transparency score, etc., on the basis of most recent data.
The Diplomat has also noted a surge in the number of foundations established elsewhere in the Chinese diaspora. In the USA, another fivefold increase for Chinese-American foundations sees them now bringing in over half a billion dollars annually. Just as in China, much of this goes to higher education. Chinese Americans are fond of giving back to their alma maters.
Looking to the future, China has for quite a while now championed the benefits of big data. Such could be an enormous help with China’s stated intent for international cooperation in the field of charitable activities. Again, common prosperity.
No wonder in 2019 was launched the China Philanthropy Big Data Research Institute, another initiative of the China Foundation Centre.
On the horizon is a whole new way of looking at charity. Just as in other sectors, science and technology shall be mobilised. Expect digital currency, artificial intelligence and blockchain to be the new watchwords in China’s world of philanthropy.
