NGOs' role evolves in changing China

Giving back to the community and charity are the common tag lines used globally to identify non-governmental organizations. But that may soon change as organizations in China are fast reshaping the role and definition of NGOs in modern times.

Here is how that could soon be a reality. In the foreseeable future, farmers from Africa may soon find that high-yield rice seedlings, being developed jointly by the Chinese government and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, may help the continent stave off most of its hunger problems.

Rather than funding projects to tackle China's hunger challenge, much like what the Rockefeller Foundation did about 30 years ago, the Seattle-based Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has opted to work with the Ministry of Science and Technology to help Chinese scientists find solutions to food problems in other developing nations.

"China has progressed rapidly to something that is in-between a developed economy and developing economy. It is now willing to do things for others and becoming better at it. We consider China an integral partner in our endeavors to help the not so well-off nations," said Ray Yip, chief representative of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in China.

By the latest count, there are about 2,000 international NGOs operating in China. Like the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, many NGOs are watching with close interest the pendulum swinging slowly from receiver to donor in China.

Experts, however, said that the role of global NGOs in China is poised for even more changes as the nation transitions from the "upper middle income" economy to a "high income" economy over the next 15 to 20 years.

Technology transfer

Experts from the nonprofit sector feel that global NGOs in China will be more focused on technology transfer rather than financial assistance. Such a shift will not only shape a stronger civil society in China, but also create more Chinese organizations willing to be a part of sustainable development efforts across the world, they said.

Though China is still a developing nation, it no longer receives funding from many bilateral and multilateral agencies such as the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. In November, the fund froze payments for several of its projects in China, which till then was one of the biggest recipient nations.

Government aid from other richer nations such as the United Kingdom and Australia, the other major source for international NGOs' China operations and Chinese grassroots NGOs, has also been steadily shrinking.

According to the latest statistics from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, official development assistance to China from developed countries has shrunk from about $1.37 billion in 2008 to $703 million in 2010.

China's growing economic prowess, and the successful hosting of several big-ticket events such as the Olympic Games in 2008 and the Shanghai Expo in 2010, have to some extent contributed to the changed global mindset, said Wang Ming, director of the NGO Research Center at Tsinghua University in Beijing, adding that it is no longer money that China needs the most.

China's private donations exceeded 10 billion yuan ($1.59 billion) for the first time in 2006, and jumped to 103.2 billion yuan in 2010, according to statistics from the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

Part of the reason why the coffers have not been strained is the growing number of rich people in China and Chinese foundations.

"Rather than money, what China needs is the knowledge and skills that international NGOs have learned through decades of global practice, especially at a time when the government wants to play a more proactive role in global issues," Wang said.

Starting this year, China has released various positive signals in social development, including easing the registration regulations for social organizations, which is considered by many as a "breakthrough" in China. Several global experts including John Fitzgerald, the China representative of the Ford Foundation, have welcomed the initiative and expressed the hope that it will strengthen the social sector further.

Growing numbers

The number of NGOs in China has nearly doubled in the past 10 years with registered social organizations rising to about 460,000 by 2011. The sector is likely to see even stronger development as more friendly policies are in store.

With the impressive growth in financial resources and the sheer number of local NGOs, international NGOs need to reposition themselves to shoulder more in terms of transferring their knowledge about capacity building and best practices in international development work, said Jessica Teets, assistant professor of political science at Middlebury College in Vermont, the United States.

"I foresee more extensive collaboration between local governments and international NGOs and between international NGOs and grassroots groups, especially with the easing of fundraising and registration regulations," said Teets, who has been studying Chinese civil society since 2000 and has been visiting China every summer for fieldwork on the NGO sector since 2003.

The Chinese government is also playing an equally important role, and is now more than aware of the key role that international NGOs can play in the transition, experts said.

Though operating in China as an international NGO still has some hurdles - such as the strict and time-consuming registration regulation - recent reports from China Charity & Donation Information Center show that fewer than 3 percent of the more than 1,000 US-based NGOs operating in China are registered. All the seven global foundations and operational NGOs admitted that they now feel more welcome in China, as it is their knowledge that is being more appreciated.

Take the case of Half the Sky Foundation, an organization set up in 1998 by adoptive parents in the US to help children in China's welfare institutions. The organization found its footing last year, when the government came out with the Rainbow Program, which aims to co-train child welfare workers at the China Center for Children's Welfare and Adoption and provincial governments over the next few years.

"Although we have always celebrated the new light in the eyes of each and every child in our programs, we have done so with the sobering knowledge that there were so many other children we had not yet reached," said Carma Elliot, executive director of Half the Sky China, adding it has always been the foundation's intention to train and mentor rather than establish and run programs.

"The increased financial and organizational commitments from our government partners have made it possible for us to start that orderly transition. We have dreamed of such an opportunity for a long time," said Elliot, who joined the Beijing-based organization in January 2011 at the end of her tenure as British consul-general in Shanghai.

On the ground

It is not only the government which is benefiting from the participation of international NGOs. The grassroots NGOs, which are practically nurtured by international NGOs, also benefit.

Grassroots NGOs have been increasing steadily in China, especially since the 1990s, through the resources brought in by foreign donors and the paid work from large international operational NGOs' China projects.

But with external funding shrinking, experts feel that the operational models and best practices from abroad are more important for grassroots groups in China.

Sun Shan, a leading environmentalist in China, is an ideal example. Sun had earlier worked as a senior program officer in China since 2002 with the Virginia-based Conservation International, a nonprofit environmental organization. In 2007, she set up the Shan Shui Conservation Center, a Beijing-based NGO, which has turned out to be an elite organization in biodiversity protection in China.

Li Bo, the executive director of Friends of Nature, another leading Chinese NGO in environmental protection, also held various positions in numerous international foundations and operational NGOs before joining the Beijing-based organization in 2009.

Li said it is clear that international NGOs have well-developed systems for running projects, gauging demand, monitoring, evaluation and the accountability of its financial systems.

"Most of the Chinese NGOs are still in the early stages of development. They don't have a systematical way of running projects and are incapable of handling large-scale projects," said Li, who is worried that the tension between premature grassroots NGOs in China and international NGOs will intensify as they jostle for funds.