BEIJING - A total of 112 Chinese charitable organizations called for promoting transparency and public trust after a spate of scandals discredited the country's philanthropic groups last year.

The charities made the pledge on Sunday at an annual meeting on Chinese philanthropy, vowing to make further efforts to improve self-discipline within the sector.

In 2011, the Red Cross Society of China (RCSC), China's largest charity, was the focus of a major scandal involving a young woman calling herself "Guo Meimei" The woman claimed to be a general manager for "Red Cross Commerce," an organization that the RCSC claimed did not exist.

Guo Meimei posted photos detailing her lavish lifestyle online, leading netizens to speculate that she might have funded her extravagant purchases by embezzling money from the RCSC.

The charities said they will make dedicated efforts to make more information available to the public and provide professional personnel training services, as well as develop a set of standards for evaluating transparency within the sector.