China mulls changes to foundation management

BEIJING -- China is considering allowing all foundations to apply to raise funds from the public two years after they are established, erasing a previous distinction between public and private funds.

The draft amendment to the regulation on foundation management was released by Ministry of Civil Affairs (MCA) on Thursday for public opinion.

It obliges all foundations to deliver work and financial reports annually to their regulators and to make those reports public to guarantee the right to know of donors, beneficiaries and the general public.

It also expands registering and regulating agencies of foundations from ministerial and provincial level to ministerial, provincial, municipal and county level.

It must be clarified at registration that foundations are of charitable nature and thereby subject to the Charity Law, the amendment says.

The 2004 regulation on foundation management has prompted rapid growth of foundations. At the end of 2015, the number of foundations had reached 4,719, with total net assets climbing from over 10 billion yuan ($1.52 billion) in 2005 to over 110 billion yuan.