Regulation of Civil Society in China: Necessary Changes after the Olympic Games and the Sichuan Earthquake

Abstract

This article proposes an integrated approach to law reform for the civil society sector in China by looking at four different issues:

1. Making the existing regulations for social organizations (shehui tuanti, SOs), nonprofit non-commercial entities (minban fei qiye danwe, NCEs), and foundations (jijin hui) more user-friendly, including making it possible for de facto networks that provide and coordinate disaster relief to be recognized, perhaps as semi-legal entities for a short period of time. The liberalization of the SO regulations should permit mutual benefit organizations to be established in order to fully implement the freedom of association guaranteed by Article 35 of the Chinese Constitution.

2. Making public fund-raising easier for small and medium-sized CSOs.

3. Passing the Charity (cishan) Law to coordinate the development of the law governing public benefit organizations and begin the process of privatizing charity in China. This should eventually lead to establishing a public benefit commission comparable to the public benefit commission in Japan, which is patterned after the Charity Commission for England and Wales.

4. Relaxing the controls on volunteering. While the current municipal rules may work well with regard to a planned event such as the Olympics, they impede the development of volunteer networks at times of national disasters.