2015年CRI NPC Considers Law Aimed at Charity Transparency

 

Top legislators in China are mulling over the country's first ever charity law, in an effort to increase transparency.

A draft being discussed by the National People's Congress would require charities to publicize clear information on their operations.

It says such information should be released at least once every three months.

Liu Zhenlai, one of the delegates to the top legislature, said such regulation is in accordance to increasing social demand.

"The public is concerned about the donation amount, how the donations are used and its efficiency and whether the donations really benefit people. Corruption¹ and misconduct in charity have blown the reputation of charity career and had a bad influence in the society. Therefore I propose to emphasize the regulation of the charity behavior and fundraising, ensure transparency in charity and the public's supervision² on charity," said Liu.

The charity sector³ in China has developed rapidly in the past decade, with the amount of donations ten times that of 10 years ago.

The sector has also been boosted by the Internet and the popularization of social media in recent years.

It's been reported that last August, posts on social media platforms about the Ice Bucket Challenge were read 4.5 billion times here in China, with some 8 million yuan, or 1.2 million US dollars being raised.

Lawmakers at the NPC session also believe that with the spread of online donation platforms, special stipulation⁴ on online fundraising is also necessary.

NPC delegate Sun Baoshu is one of them.

"The current draft mainly regulates and supervised the formal charity organizations, activities and trust with charity aims, which is relatively⁵ narrow in legislation. Actually charity is diversified⁶. A lot of informal charity organizations and activities exist in daily life, for example the online charity activities and some unregistered micro charity groups. So we should add the new content into the charity law," said Sun.

Social concerns on charity fraud have become a media highlight after a recent case in east China's Anhui Province.

A local resident in Anhui, named Li Juan was seriously bitten by a dog in a kennel⁷ owned by her boyfriend, Zhang Hongyu.

However, Zhang falsely claimed on the Internet that Li was hurt when trying to save a girl from dogs and raised about 800,000 yuan in donations.

Later, media investigations⁸ exposed the fraud and police detained Zhang.

NPC delegate Li Andong suggested that harsher punishment should also be included in the charity law.

"This case is not individual and similar cases happen now and again. In order to improve the charity environment, we should prohibit and punish such donation cheat behaviors. The current charity draft has included some regulations but not in focus. So I suggest clearly defining and providing this in the law," Li said.

The draft under-debate also includes provisions to guarantee volunteer rights and ensure that charity groups, donors⁹ and beneficiaries enjoy taxation¹⁰ favors.

According to official numbers, China has nearly 3,000 registered nonprofit groups that manage charitable donations as of the end of 2012, up nearly 16 percent year on year.

1 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

2 supervision   

n.监督，管理

参考例句：

• The work was done under my supervision.这项工作是在我的监督之下完成的。
• The old man's will was executed under the personal supervision of the lawyer.老人的遗嘱是在律师的亲自监督下执行的。

3 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

4 stipulation   

n.契约，规定，条文；条款说明

参考例句：

• There's no stipulation as to the amount you can invest. 没有关于投资额的规定。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The only stipulation the building society makes is that house must be insured. 建屋互助会作出的唯一规定是房屋必须保险。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

6 diversified   

adj.多样化的，多种经营的v.使多样化，多样化( diversify的过去式和过去分词 )；进入新的商业领域

参考例句：

• The college biology department has diversified by adding new courses in biotechnology. 该学院生物系通过增加生物技术方面的新课程而变得多样化。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Take grain as the key link, develop a diversified economy and ensure an all-round development. 以粮为纲，多种经营，全面发展。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

7 kennel   

n.狗舍，狗窝

参考例句：

• Sporting dogs should be kept out of doors in a kennel.猎狗应该养在户外的狗窝中。
• Rescued dogs are housed in a standard kennel block.获救的狗被装在一个标准的犬舍里。

8 investigations   

（正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究

参考例句：

• His investigations were intensive and thorough but revealed nothing. 他进行了深入彻底的调查，但没有发现什么。
• He often sent them out to make investigations. 他常常派他们出去作调查。

9 donors   

n.捐赠者( donor的名词复数 )；献血者；捐血者；器官捐献者

参考例句：

• Please email us to be removed from our active list of blood donors. 假如你想把自己的名字从献血联系人名单中删去，请给我们发电子邮件。
• About half this amount comes from individual donors and bequests. 这笔钱大约有一半来自个人捐赠及遗赠。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 taxation   

n.征税，税收，税金

参考例句：

• He made a number of simplifications in the taxation system.他在税制上作了一些简化。
• The increase of taxation is an important fiscal policy.增税是一项重要的财政政策。