Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-m8qmq Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-24T01:17:06.251Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Bounded by the State: Government Priorities and the Development of Private Philanthropic Foundations in China*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 November 2015

Weijun Lai
Affiliation:
The Chinese University of Hong Kong. Email: laiweijun@cuhk.edu.hk.
Jiangang Zhu*
Affiliation:
Sun Yat-sen University.
Lin Tao
Affiliation:
Peking University. Email: taolin@pku.edu.cn.
Anthony J. Spires
Affiliation:
The Chinese University of Hong Kong. Email: ajspires@cuhk.edu.hk.
*
Email: zhujg@mail.sysu.edu.cn (corresponding author).

Abstract

From a regulatory perspective, philanthropy in China has been officially modernized. Since the government established a legal framework in 2004 based on models from overseas, the number of private foundations in China has grown more than six-fold. Drawing on a nationally representative survey of 214 private foundations conducted in 2012, we present a landscape view of these new philanthropic institutions, discussing both who begins foundations and how their monies are used. We find that despite the rise of new private wealth in China and the adoption of the private foundation form, government priorities are structuring the field of Chinese philanthropy in key and consequential ways. We conclude with some considerations of the implications of these findings for the development of broader civil society.

摘要

从管理制度上看, 中国的公益慈善领域已经实现现代化。自中央政府在 2004 年通过借鉴海外管理模式正式出台《基金会管理条例》以来, 中国非公募基金会数量迅速增长了六倍多。基于 2012 年对于非公募基金会的一个全国性样本 (包含 214 个基金会) 的问卷调查, 本文呈现了该类新兴公益慈善机构的发展概貌, 其中着重讨论了非公募基金会的创办者情况及其资金使用状况。研究发现, 尽管中国的私人财富迅速增长、并且上述基金会采取私募基金会的运作形式, 但政府部门仍然在一些重要和关键方面型塑着中国公益慈善行业的发展。在结论部分, 我们进一步讨论以上研究发现对于中国更广泛公民社会发展的意义和影响。

Type
Research Reports
Copyright
Copyright © The China Quarterly 2015 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

*

Funding for this research was provided by the China Private Foundation Forum in the form of a commissioned project entitled, “A national survey of the development situation of private foundations in China.” Project supported by the National Social Science Foundation of China (Grant no. 12AZD027).

References

Bullock, Mary Brown. 2011. The Oil Prince's Legacy: Rockefeller Philanthropy in China. Washington, DC: Woodrow Wilson Center Press.Google Scholar
Handlin Smith, Joanna. 2009. The Art of Doing Good: Charity in Late Ming China. Berkeley: University of California Press.Google Scholar
Hildebrandt, Timothy. 2013. Social Organizations and the Authoritarian State in China. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hsu, Carolyn L. 2008. “‘Rehabilitating charity’ in China: the case of Project Hope and the rise of non-profit organizations.” Journal of Civil Society 4(2), 8196.Google Scholar
Spires, Anthony J. 2011. “Contingent symbiosis and civil society in an authoritarian state: understanding the survival of China's grassroots NGOs.” American Journal of Sociology 117(1), 145.Google Scholar
Spires, Anthony J., Lin, Tao and Chan, Kin-man. 2014. “Societal support for China's grass-roots NGOs: evidence from Yunnan, Guangdong and Beijing.” The China Journal 71, 6590.Google Scholar