Six questions on the draft charity law

Editor's note: Chinese lawmakers started discussing the draft Charity Law on Wednesday at the annual session of the National People's Congress. The following are six core issues relating to the new law.

Ge Yike, one of the initiators for the charity project "One School One Dream", with pupils of Shima primary school in Badong county, Central China's Hubei province, Oct 2015. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

1. Can individuals raise money for charity?

Answer: No

Draft: Charitable fund-raising means the activities of charitable organizations to raise funds for the purpose of charity. These activities include raising money from the public and from specific units and individuals.

Interpretation:

One principle of the Charity Law is that individuals cannot directly launch fund-raising activities. Such fund-raising activities carried out by individuals are not transparent. There are no restrictions on how donated assets will be used, and it is hard to separate donated assets from individual assets. It is not easy to supervise.

by Kan Ke, deputy director of the Legislative Affairs Commission of the NPC Standing Committee

Individuals are not qualified to launch charitable fund-raising activities. Organizations must get registered at the country's civil affairs authorities to launch charitable fund-raising activities, such as China Charity Federation, Red Cross Society of China, other foundations and charitable organizations.

by Zhang Tiehan, a NPC deputy and vice president of Liaoning Charity Federation