Another dragon awakes: NGOs in China

In 1976, a massive earthquake hit the industrial city of Tangshan in China, killing an estimated - but still unconfirmed - 700,000. Despite the unprecedented death toll, the Chinese government shunned much needed foreign assistance, and kept information and aid under tight restrictions.

Three decades on, with the eyes of the world already focused on China’s rapid economic rise, human rights record in Tibet and the impending Beijing Olympics, another earthquake seems to have shaken China’s mentality toward nongovernmental aid.

China welcomed emergency relief after an earthquake on May 12, 2008, which killed some 69,000 in the region of Sichuan. Aid from international organizations such as Oxfam and World Vision was complemented by a flurry of activity from Chinese NGOs and individuals.

The Asian Development Bank estimates that 380,000 NGOs exist in China right now - a surprise to some, considering the rigid framework of the ruling Chinese Communist Party.

“I think one is seeing, in some cases, quite an interesting creep or transition from the old-style ‘mass organization’ which has been seen as the ‘conveyer belt from Party to people,’” said Chris Spohr, social sector economist on the ADB People’s Republic of China resident mission.

NGOs in China came into effect following World Bank encouragement in the 1990s, and state efforts to move away from a centralized economy, according to a forthcoming ADB draft overview of the China’s NGO sector.

The NGO landscape in China is made up of three groups, according to Leo Jia, founder of CSR and Co., a Shanghai-based consultancy for NGOs. Government NGOs, known as GNGOs, are “quasi-governmental” organizations that have a background or close relationship with government agencies, Jia said. Informal, unregistered NGOs tend to work quietly at the grass-roots level; Jia simply referred to them as “groups.” Near-impossible registration procedures make the third type of NGO rare: those that are registered and independent of government or international backing.

“For example, if you want to be a real NGO and register with the Civil Affairs Bureau, you have to first find a so-called ‘supervisor,’ or supervising unit, which should be a government organization of a certain level,” Jia explained. “As this is very difficult to do, we have a lot of NGOs that choose to register as a company. It’s not because they want to, but because they cannot.”

Despite the complex and opaque registration procedures for NGOs in China, there has been an emergence of activity in this sector. NGOs that do manage to jump the registration hurdle often adopt Western-style mission statements and accounting reports. Bidding systems for NGOs that resemble models used by European governments are being adopted in Shanghai and elsewhere.

The China Foundation for Poverty Alleviation - which is currently working with Mercy Corps, an international NGO - is one example of a GNGO that is becoming increasingly professional and “nongovernmental.” In 2006, a groundbreaking initiative saw CFPA entrusted with government funds to run a public and competitive bidding process for poverty alleviation projects led by grass-roots NGOs in 16 villages across the Jiangxi region.

“One is seeing the emergence of NGOS that take on a similar flavor to what one sees in the West,” said Spohr.

As a rule of thumb, Spohr added, NGOs in China should steer clear of taboo areas such as human rights or political rights. But in terms of poverty alleviation, they are being given more leeway.

For international NGOs, partnering with their Chinese counterparts can lead to a wider array of opportunities. One Hong Kong-based NGO, Social Workers Across Borders, is currently working in partnership with a quasi-governmental organization based in Wuhan, and social worker volunteers from Hong Kong are sent to train and supervise their counterparts in mainland China. Oxfam Hong Kong is also working with several Chinese NGOs on the ground.

“There is another trend where those from Shenzhen and Shanghai are purchasing services from Hong Kong, where social workers provide training for those in China and supervise them. In Hong Kong, the government is less strict on funding, and we also follow a Western style of accounting, and working with those in China is becoming more and more common,” said Social Workers Across Borders Secretary Larry So.

Spohr said: “In fact, I think we’ve come into a little more of an odd situation. You now have 380,000 NGOs that are actually less humanity-, less social development-focused, and more focused on business interests and members of our association, whereas on the other hand, you have some entities registered as businesses that are actually in some ways more like an NGO. I actually don’t have the number of how many de facto NGOs there are registered.”

Lack of funding poses an obstacle for NGOs wishing to register.

“It’s very difficult to do fundraising, that is common for every NGO throughout the world, but especially for China,” said Jia.

Public fundraising is out of the question for most organisations, due to Chinese prohibitions. With private donors only giving to those organizations that are well-known, smaller or unregistered NGOs face a serious struggle here, according to Jia.

Corporate sponsorship is not an alternative on offer for cash-strapped NGOs either.

“If you go to a local enterprise or sector, they might give you money, but not much, as there are a number of strange habits here too,” So said. “Many of these local enterprises are not willing to dish out money to NGOs because of corruption going on, directed into pockets instead of the poor. This is all hindering what we can do in our projects in China.”

The Sichuan earthquake has focused much attention on the emergence of Chinese NGOs, which is a “golden opportunity,” according to Kate Zhou of the University of Hawaii.

“Chinese people are starting to donate. Before this, Chinese culture did not really have the notion of charity, and encouraged giving to friends and family, rather than to strangers,” said Zhou. “But now, private charity is on the rise, people are giving as individuals and there are thousands of volunteers, which is a great thing for the professional NGO tapestry, and a guide to set up real, independent NGOs for Chinese civil society.”

Jia concurred with the undercurrent of cautious optimism for the emergence of a functioning NGO sector in China.

“Although I still think there will be more preference there for government NGOs,” he said, “I think it’s a good beginning.”