The "Charity Law of the People's Republic of China" was passed at the 4th meeting of the Twelfth National People's Congress on March 16, 2016, and is hereby released to take effect on September 1st, 2016.
Chapter I: General Provisions
Article 1: This law is drafted so as to develop the charity field, to promote a culture of charity, to regulate charitable activities; to protect the legal rights and interests of charitable organizations, donors, volunteers, and beneficiaries; and to promote social progress and share the developmental accomplishments.
Article 2: This law applies to natural persons, legal persons and other organizations carrying out charitable activities or activities related to charities. Where other laws have special provisions, follow those provisions.
Article 3: "Charitable activity" as used in this law indicates initiation of the following non-profit activities on a voluntary basis by natural persons, legal persons and other organizations through means such as donating assets or providing services, or voluntarily carrying out the following public interest activities:
(1) Poverty alleviation and assistance;
(2) Eldercare, aid for orphans, aid for the ill, assistance for the disabled, or special aid;
(3) relief from damage caused by natural disasters, disasters caused by accidents, public health incidents and other emergencies;
(4) promotion of the development of areas such as education, science, culture, health, and sports;
(5) prevention and control of pollution and other public harms, and protection and improvement of the environment;
(6) Other public interest activities compliant with the provisions of this law.
Article 4: The implementation of charitable activities shall follow the principles of lawfulness, voluntariness, integrity, and non-compensation; must not violate social morals, and must not harm national security, the societal public interest or the lawful rights and interests of others.
Article 5: The State encourages and supports natural persons, legal persons, and other organizations putting the socialist core values into practice, carrying forward the traditional virtues of the Chinese people and conducting charitable activities in accordance with law.
Article 6: The civil affairs department under the State Council is responsible for work on charities throughout the entire nation; all levels of people's government at the county level or above are responsible for work on charities in their administrative regions; civil affairs department of people's government at the county level or above follow this law and other laws and regulations to do a good job on relevant work within the scope of their own duties.
Article 7: September 5th of every year is "China Charity Day".
Chapter II: Charitable Organizations
Article 8: "Charitable organizations" as used in this Law refers to lawfully established non-profit organizations that comply with the provisions of this law and whose main purpose is carrying out charitable activities aimed at the public.
Charitable organizations may adopt organizational forms such as foundations, social groups (社会团体), or social service organizations.
Article 9: Charitable organizations shall comply with the following requirements:
(1) Have carrying out charitable activities as its main purpose;
(2) It does not have a profit-making motive;
(3) Have its own name and location;
(4) Have an organizational charter;
(5) Have necessary assets;
(6) Have institutional framework and responsible parties meeting requirements;
(7) other requirements provided for by laws and administrative regulations.
Article 10: Establishment of social organizations shall be by application for register to the civil affairs department at the county level or above, and the civil affairs department shall make a decision within 30 days of accepting the application. Where the requirements provided for in this law are met, registration is permitted and announced to society; where the requirements provided for in this law are not met, registration is not given and the reasons are explained in writing.
Non-profit organizations such as trusts, social groups, and social service organizations established prior to the promulgation of this Law may apply to the civil affairs department that they registered with to be confirmed as charitable organizations, and the civil affairs department shall make a decision within 20 days of accepting the application. Where the requirements for charitable organizations are met, confirmation is granted and announced to society; where the requirements for charitable organizations are not met, registration is not permitted and the reasons are explained in writing.
Where there are special circumstances requiring an extension of the period for registration or confirmation, an appropriate extention may be given upon permission of the civil affairs departments under the State Council, but the extended period must not exceed 60 days.
Article 11: Charters of charitable organizations shall comply with laws and regulations and clearly contain the following matters:
(1) Name and domicile;
(2) Organizational model;
(3) purpose and scope of activities;
(4) Asset sources and composition;
(5) the composition and duties of the decision-making and implementation bodies;
(6) internal oversight mechanisms;
(7) asset management and utilization systems;
(8) project management systems;
(9) conditions for termination and method of settling accounts [liquidation] after termination;
(10) other important matters.
Article 12: Charitable organizations shall follow laws and regulations and their charters to establish sound internal governance structures; clarify responsibility and powers for areas such as major decision making, implementation and supervision; and carry out charitable activities.
Charitable organizations shall implement a unified national accounting system, shall undertake accounting according to law, shall establish a sound accounting supervision system, and shall accept the supervision and management of relevant government departments.
Article 13: Each year, charitable organizations shall submit an annual work report and a financial accounting report to the civil affairs department with which they were registered. Reports shall include information on annual fundraising and donation acceptance , the use and management of charitable assets, the implementation of charitable projects and also charitable organizations' staff wages and benefits.
Article 14: The founders, major donors and managers of charitable organizations must not use their association to harm the interests of charitable organizations or beneficiaries, or the public interest.
Founders, major donors and managers who partake in transactions with the charitable organization must not participate in the charitable organizations' decision making process regarding the transactions, and conditions related to the transactions shall be made public.
Article 15: Charitable organizations must not engage in or fund activities that endanger national security or social public interests, and must not accept contributions that have conditions attached which violate laws and regulations or are contrary to social morals, and must not attach conditions for beneficiaries that violate laws and regulations or are contrary to social morals.
Article 16: Persons with any of the following circumstances must not serve as the responsible person for a charitable organizations.
(1) Persons lacking or having limited civil capacity;
(2) Those who have been punished for an intentional crime, where 5 years has not yet elapsed since the completion of the criminal penalty;
(3) Those who have held a position of responsibility at an organization whose certificate of registration has been suspended or cancelled, and 5 years have not yet elapsed since the date upon which the organization's certificate of registration was suspended or cancelled;
(4) Other situations provided for by law or administrative regulations.
Article 17: Charitable organizations shall be terminated in any of the following circumstances:
(1) Where conditions for termination provided for in the charter manifest;
(2) Where termination is required due to division or merger;
(3) Where they have not engaged in charitable activities for three consecutive years;
(4) Where they have been deregistered or the registration certificate revoked in accordance with law.
(5) other circumstances where laws or administrative regulations provide they shall be terminated.
Article 18: A liquidation shall be conducted of terminated charitable organizations.
The decision-making body of a charitable organization shall establish a liquidation team to conduct liquidation 30 days of conditions for termination manifesting, and announce this to the public. Where a liquidation team is not formed or it does not carry out its responsibilities, the civil affairs departments may ask the people's courts to appoint relevant personnel to form a liquidation team and to conduct liquidation.
After liquidation, the residual assets shall be transferred to a charitable organization with the same or similar charitable purpose in accordance with charitable organizations' charters; where the charter does not have provisions, civil affairs departments preside over their transfer to charitable organizations with the same or similar purposes, which shall be announced to the public.
After charitable organizations complete liquidations, they shall handle withdrawal of registration with the civil affairs department they registered with, and this will be announced to the public by the civil affairs departments.
Article 19: Charitable organizations will establish industry organizations in accordance with law.
Charity industry organizations shall reflect the demands of the industry, push for industry-wide communication, improve the credibility of the industry, and promote the development of charities.
Article 20: The State Council will formulate specific methods fro charitable organizations' organizational forms and registration management.
Chapter III: Charitable Fundraising
Article 21: "Charitable fundraising" as used in this law refers to charitable organizations' activities raising assets for their charitable purpose.
Charitable fundraising, includes public fundraising and directed fundraising aimed at specific targets.
Article 22: Charitable organizations carrying out public fundraising shall obtain public fundraising credentials. Charitable organizations that have been lawfully registered for two years may apply to the civil affairs department at which they registered for public fundraising credentials. Civil affairs departments shall issue a decision within 20 days of receiving an application. Where charitable organizations meet the requirements for internal governance and regulation of operations, a public fundraising credential document is issued; where requirements are not met, a public fundraising qualification certificate is not issued and the reasons are to be explained in writing.
Civil affairs departments shall issue public fundraising qualification certificates to foundations and social groups that are allowed to publicly fundraising beginning on the day of their registration as provided for by laws or administrative regulations.
Article 23: Public fundraising may employ the following methods:
(1) Setting up donation boxes in public places;
(2) Hold charity events aimed at the public such as charity performances, charity competitions, charity exhibitions, charity auctions, and charity galas;
(3) release fundraising information through radio, television, newspapers, the Internet and other media;
(4) Other public fundraising means.
Where charitable organizations carry out public fundraising by employing methods provided for in items 1 or 2 of the preceding paragraph, they shall do so within the administrative jurisdictional region of the civil affairs departments, but where it is necessary to do so outside of the administrative jurisdictional region of the civil affairs department where they registered, they shall report for recording to civil affairs department of the people's government at the county level or above for the region where the public fundraising will be carried out. There is no geographical restriction on donors making donations.
Where charitable organizations carry out public fundraising through the internet, they shall publish information on the fundraising on the civil affairs department under the State Council's uniform or designated charity information platform, and may concurrently publish fundraising information on their own website
Article 24: Initiation of public fundraising shall formulate fundraising plans. Fundraising plans include information such as the purpose of fundraising, the starting and ending time, geographical regions, the names and business addresses of the responsible personnel, the methods of accepting donations, bank accounts, beneficiaries, the purposes of the funds and materials raised, the cost of fundraising, and the the disposition of residual assets.
Fundraising plans shall be reported for recording to the civil affairs departments where charitable organizations are registered before fundraising activities are carried out.
Article 25: In conducting public fundraising, information such as the name of the fundraising organization, the public fundraising credentials certificate, the fundraising plan, contact information, and methods of inquiring about fundraising information, shall be prominently displayed at the sites of fundraising activities or on fundraising media.
Article 26: Organizations or individuals not possessing public fundraising credentials may cooperate with charitable organizations that possess credentials for public fundraising to conduct public fundraising when based on a charitable purpose; and that charitable organization will carry out the public fundraising and manage the assets raised through public fundraising.
Article 27: Radio, television, press and also network service providers and telecom operators shall verify the the registration certificates and the public fundraising qualification certificates of the charitable organizations that utilize their platforms to conduct public fundraising.
Article 28: Charitable organizations may begin conducting directed fundraising from the day on which they are registered.
Charitable organizations carrying out directed fundraising shall do so within the scope designate by their founder, board members, members and so on, and explain matters to the fundraising targets such as the purpose of the fundraising and the use of assets raised.
Article 29: The methods provided for in article 23 of this law must not be employed, or covertly employed, in carrying out directed fundraising.
Article 30: When major natural disasters, accidental disasters and public health incidents or other emergencies occur, and it is necessary to rapidly carry out relief, relevant people's governments shall establish coordination mechanisms to provide information on need and to promptly and orderly guide fundraising and rescue operations.
Article 31: The implementation of fundraising activities shall respect and preserve the lawful rights and interests of fundraising targets, shall assure fundraising targets' right to know, and must not use means such as false information to trick or entice fundraising targets into making donations.
Article 32: Forced apportionment, or covert forced apportionment, must not be used in carrying out fundraising activities, and public order, business production and operations, and residents' lives must not be obstructed. [trans. note 'forced apportionment' '摊派' occurs where members of an organization are each compelled to pay a set portion of a donation]
Article 33: It is prohibited for any organization or individual to falsely use a charity's name, or pose as a charitable organization, to carry out charitable activities, or obtain assets by fraud.
Chapter IV: Charitable Donations
Article 34: "Charitable donations" as used in this law refers to voluntary and uncompensated activities conducted by natural persons, legal persons and other organizations in donating assets for charitable purposes.
Article 35: Donors can donate through charitable organizations and can also donate directly to beneficiaries.
Article 36: Assets donated by donors shall be lawful assets that they have the right to dispose of. Charitable donations of property include currency, physical property, buildings, securities, equity, intellectual property rights and other tangible and intangible property.
The material objects donated by donors shall have usable value, and shall comply with standards such as for safety, health and environmental protection.
Where the donor donates a product of its own enterprise, it shall bear responsibility and obligations for the products' quality in accordance with law.
Article 37: Where natural persons, legal persons and other organizations, in the course of conducting a business activity such as show, a competition, a sale or an auction, undertake to use part or all of the proceeds for a charitable purpose, they shall sign a donor agreement with the charitable organization or other recipient of the gift prior to the commencement of the activity, and shall perform the donation obligation pursuant to that donor agreement, and shall disclose the donation situation publicly.
Article 38: Charitable organizations accepting donations shall issue donation receipts to the donors, uniformly printed by or under the supervision of finance departments. Donation receipts shall state clearly the donor, the types and amount of assets donated, the name of the charitable organization, the name of the responsible person, the date of the receipt, and other information. Where donors are anonymous or decline to accept the donations receipts, charitable organization shall keep relevant records.
Article 39: Where a charitable organization receives a donation and the donor requests a written donor agreement, the charitable organization shall enter into a written agreement with the donor.
Written donor agreements include the names of the donor and the charitable organization, the type of assets being donated, their volume, quality, use, and time of delivery.
Article 40: When the donor and recipient agree on the uses and beneficiaries of assets, they must not designate persons in whom the donor has an interest as beneficiaries.
Organizations and individuals must not violate the law by using charitable donations to promote tobacco products, and must not use charitable donations in any fashion to promote products and matters prohibited by law.
Article 41: Donors shall follow the donation agreement in performing their donation obligations. Where, in breach of the donation agreement, donors fail to deliver donated assets exceeding the time limit, and where one of the following circumstances exists, charitable organizations and other persons accepting the donations can request delivery; where the donors refuse to deliver, charitable organizations and other persons accepting donations can apply to the people's courts for an order for payment or raise a lawsuit:
(1) Where donors have publicly promised to donate through radio, television, press, the Internet, or other such media.
(2) Where donated assets are used in the charitable activities provided for by Items 1 -3 of Article 3 of this Law, and a written donor agreement is signed;
Where after a donor publicly pledges a donation or signs a written donation agreement, economic conditions significantly deteriorate seriously affecting their production and operations, or household liveliehood, performance obligations may be discontinued upon reporting to the civil affairs department for the area where the public pledge or written donation agreement was made, and after a public explanation of the circumstances.
Article 42: A donor has the right to inquire about or make copies of relevant data on the management and the use of his donated assets; and charitable organizations shall proactively give feedback to the donor on relevant situations.
Where charitable organizations abuse the donated assets in violation of the purposes agreed upon in donor agreements , the donors have the right to demand rectification; where rectification is refused, the donors may make a complaint or report to the civil affairs department, or raise a lawsuit in the people's courts.
Article 43: State-owned enterprises making charitable donations shall comply with the relevant provisions on management of state-owned assets, carrying out approval and recording procedures.
Chapter V: Charitable Trusts
Article 44: "Charitable trusts" are public interest trusts, and as used in this Law refers to trustors lawfully entrusting their assets to a trustee for charitable purposes, and the trustee, in accordance with the wishes of the trustors and in the name of the trust, managing and disposing of assets in order to carry out charitable activities.
Article 45: The establishment of a charitable trust and the designation of the trustees and supervisors, shall be done in writing. Within seven days of signing the trust documents, the trustees shall record relevant documents for recording with the civil affairs departments of the people's government at the county level or above for the place where the trustors reside.
Those not following the provisions of the preceding paragraph to record the relevant documents with the civil affairs departments, do not enjoy preferential tax treatment.
Article 46: Trustors may designate charitable organizations or trust companies that they have confidence in to serve as trustees of charitable trusts.
Article 47: Where the trustees of a charitable trust violate the obligations of the trust or have difficulty performing their duties, the trustor may change the trustee. Within 7 days of the change, the trustees after the change shall report the situation to the civil affairs department for the original recording to make a new record.
Article 48: Trustees of charitable trusts, in managing or handling the assets of the trust, shall perform their duties in accordance with the charity's purposes, with dedication to duty and integrity in performance and prudent management.
The trustee of charitable trusts shall promptly report to the trustor on the status of the handling of the affairs of the trust, and on the status of the management and use of trust assets, as required by the trust deed. Trustees of charitable trusts shall report at least once a year to the civil affairs departments where they are on record regarding the status of the handling of the affairs of the trust and state of financial affairs, and this shall be made public.
Article 49: Trustees of charitable trusts may identify trust supervisors as needed.
The trust supervisor oversees the actions of the trustee, safeguarding the rights and interests of the trustors and the beneficiaries in accordance with law. Where trust supervisors discover that trustees have violated their obligations under the trust or are having difficulty performing their duties, they shall report it to the trustor and also have the right to bring a lawsuit in their own name in the people's courts.
Article 50: Where matters such as the establishment of charitable trusts, the management of trust assets, trust parties, and the termination and liquidation of trusts are not covered by this Chapter, apply other relevant provisions of this Law; where [these matters] are not covered by this Law, apply the relevant provisions of the Trust Law of the People's Republic of China.
Chapter VI: Charitable Assets
Article 51: Assets of charitable organizations include:
(1) Start-up assets donated or funded by founders;
(2) Assets gathered through fundraising;
(3) Other lawful assets.
Article 52: The assets of charitable organizations shall only be used entirely for charitable purposes in accordance with their charter and the donation agreement, and must not be distributed among the founders, donors or members of the charitable organizations.
Charitable assets must not be privately divided, embezzled, withheld or misappropriated by any organization or individual.
Article 53: Charitable organizations shall create records for registration and conduct strict management of raised assets, and shall earmark funds for specified purposes,.
Where physical property donated by a donor is not easily stored or transported, or is difficult to directly use for a charitable purpose, charitable organizations may lawfully auction it or sell it off, and the proceeds, following withholding of the necessary taxes, shall go entirely to the charitable purpose.
Article 54: Charitable organizations shall follow the principles of lawfulnessf, safety and effectiveness in order acting to preserve property values and appreciate current investments, and the gains obtained through investment shall be used entirely for charitable purposes. Charitable organization's major investment plans shall be agreed upon by two-thirds or more of the members of the decision-making body. Assets from government funding, and assets that a donation agreement provides must not be used as investments, must not be used for investment. The responsible persons and staff of charitable organizations must not have part-time employment with, or receive compensation from, enterprises in which the charitable organization invests.
The civil affairs departments under the State Council will develop implementation methods for the matters provided in the previous paragraph.
Article 55: Charitable activities carried out by charitable organizations shall be in accordance with the provisions of laws, regulations and their charters, and shall follow the fundraising plan or donation agreement in utilizing donated assets. Where charitable organizations truly need to change provisions of their fundraising plan, they shall record it with the civil affairs departments; where they truly need to change the use of donated assets as provided for in a donation agreement, the donors' consent shall be obtained.
Article 56: Charitable organizations shall reasonably design charitable projects, optimize their course of implementation, minimize operational costs, and raise the efficiency of using charitable assets.
Charitable organizations shall establish project management systems, and conduct follow up supervision of projects' implementation.
Article 57: Where after charitable projects conclude, there are remaining donated assets, it is handled in accordance with the fundraising plan or donation agreement; where there is no stipulation in the fundraising plan or donation agreement, the charitable organization shall use the remaining assets in a charitable project with the same or similar goals, and make this public.
Article 58: Charitable organizations determination of beneficiaries shall adhere to the principles of openness, fairness and justness; and must not designate persons in whom the charitable organizations' managers have an interest as beneficiaries.
Article 59: Charitable organizations may sign agreements with beneficiaries as needed, clarifying the rights and obligations of both sides, and stipulating on the use, amount, and methods of use of charitable assets, and other such content.
Beneficiaries shall cherish charitable funds and use them in accordance with agreements. Where beneficiaries do not follow the agreement in using charitable assets, or otherwise seriously violate the agreement, the charitable organization has the right to request they make corrections; where beneficiaries refuse to make corrections, the charitable organization has the right to end the agreement and request that the beneficiaries return assets.
Article 60: Charitable organizations shall actively carry out charitable activities, fully and efficiently utilizing charitable assets, and obey the principle of highest necessity in managing costs, acting frugally and reducing unnecessary expenses. Of charitable organizations, charitable foundations with public fundraising credentials' annual expenditure for carrying out charitable activities must not be less than 70% of it's total income for the previous year or 70% of the average income for the last three years; annual management costs must not exceed 10% of that year's total spending, and where there are special circumstances making it difficult to comply with the provisions mentioned here, a report shall be made to the civil affairs departments where they are registered and a public explanation of the situation shall be made.
The standards for charitable organizations other than charitable foundations with public fundraising credentials' annual spending on charitable activities and management costs are to be formulated by the civil affairs departments of the State Council, in consultation with the finance, taxation and other departments of the State Council, based on the principles of the preceding paragraph.
Where donation agreements stipulate the charitable activity expenditure and the management costs for individual donated assets, follow these stipulations.
Chapter VII: Charitable Services
Article 61: "Charitable services" as used in this Law refer to uncompensated volunteer services as well as other non-profit services provided to society or to others based on charitable purposes by charitable organizations and other organizations as well as individuals.
Charitable organizations carrying out charitable services may provide them themselves or recruit volunteers to provide them, and may also be entrust another organization with service expertise to provide them.
Article 62: The implementation of charitable services shall respect the individual dignity of beneficiaries and of the volunteers and must not encroach on beneficiaries' and the volunteers' privacy.
Article 63: Conduct of charitable services that require specialized skills such as medical treatment and rehabilitation or education and training, shall implement standards and rules formulated by the State or industry organizations.
Where charitable organizations recruit volunteers to participate in charitable services and require specialized skills, they shall conduct relevant training for volunteers.
Article 64: Charitable organizations' recruiting volunteers to participate in charitable services shall publicly announce all information related to the charitable service, and give notice of risks that might occur in the course of service.
Charitable organizations may sign agreements with volunteers as needed, clarifying the rights and obligations of both parties, stipulating information such as the content, method, and time of service.
Article 65: Charitable organizations shall make real name registration of volunteers, and record the time, content, and appraisal of volunteers' service. As requested by volunteers, charitable organizations shall issue free and accurate proofs of volunteer service records.
Article 66: Charitable organizations will arrange for volunteers to participate in charitable service appropriate to their age, education level, skills and physical condition.
Article 67: Volunteers accepting charitable organizations' arrangements to participate in charitable services shall abide by management and accept necessary training.
Article 68: Charitable organizations shall provide volunteers with necessary requirements to participate charitable services, and safeguard volunteers' lawful rights and interests.
Before charitable organizations arrange for volunteers to participate in charitable service where personal injury might occur, they shall purchase accidental personal injury insurance for the volunteers.
Chapter VIII: Information Disclosure
Article 69: People's governments at the county level or above establish and improve systems for gathering and releasing charity information.
The civil affairs departments of people's governments at the county level or above shall promptly release charity information to the public, and provide charity information release services for free on a uniform information platform.
Charitable organizations and the trustees of charitable trusts shall release charity information on the platforms stipulated by the preceding paragraph, and shall be responsible for the authenticity of the information.
Article 70: The civil affairs departments and other relevant departments of the people's governments at or above the county level shall timely disclose the following charity information to the public:
(1) the registration of charitable organizations;
(2) charitable trusts filing matters;
(3) the list of charitable organizations with public fundraising credentials;
(4) A list of charitable organizations to give public interest tax deduction receipts for donations.
(5) Measures for promoting charitable activities such as preferential tax treatment and funding subsidies;
(6) Information on purchasing of services from charitable organizations;
(7) Outcomes of investigations into charitable organizations and charitable trusts;
(8) The outcome of commendations and punishments of charitable organizations, other organizations and individuals;
(9) Other information that laws and regulations provide shall be disclosed.
Article 71: Charitable organizations and trustees of charitable trusts shall carry out information disclosure obligations in accordance with law. Information disclosure shall be truthful, complete and timely.
Article 72: Charitable organizations shall publicly disclose the organization's charter, information on the members of decision-making, implementation, and oversight bodies, as well as other information that the civil affairs department under the State Council requires to be disclosed. Where they are major changes to the information abovementioned, charitable organization shall timely disclose them to the public.
Each year, charitable organizations shall publicly disclose their annual work report and financial accounting report. The financial accounting report of charitable organizations with public fundraising credentials must be audited.
Article 73: Charitable organizations with public fundraising credentials shall periodically make public disclosures on the circumstances of fundraising and of charitable projects' implementation.
Where the period for public fundraising exceeds 6 months, the specific circumstances of public fundraising should be reported at least once every 3 months, and after the fundraising has concluded, the overall circumstances of fundraising shall be disclosed within 3 months.
Where charitable projects' implementation period exceeds 6 months, the situations of the implementation of the projects should be reported at least once every 3 months, and after the projects have concluded, the overall circumstances of implementation and use of collected funds and property shall be disclosed within 3 months.
Article 74: Where charitable organizations carry out directed fundraising, the charity shall promptly inform the donors of the fundraising and about the management and use of raised funds and materials.
Article 75: Charitable organizations and trustees of charitable trusts shall inform beneficiaries of information such their funding standards, work processes and work regulations.
Article 76: Information related to state secrets, commercial secrets, or personal privacy, as well as information such as the names, titles, address, and contact method of donors or charitable trust trustees who do not consent to it being disclosed, must not be made public.
Chapter IX: Promotional Measures
Article 77: People's governments at the county level or above shall, in accordance with the social and economic development situation, formulate policies and measures to promote of the development of the charity field.
The relevant departments of people's government at or above the county level shall, within their own duties, provide charity demand information to charitable organizations or the trustees of charitable trusts, and provide guidance and help to charitable activities.
Article 78: The civil affairs departments of the people's governments at or above the county level shall establish mechanisms of sharing charity information with other departments.
Article 79: Charitable organizations and the income thereof enjoy tax benefits according to law.
Article 80: Where natural persons, legal persons and other organizations donate assets for use in charitable activities, they receive tax benefits in accordance with law. The amount of charitable donations beyond the amount deductible from income tax for that year is allowed to be carried over into the calculation of taxable income over the next three years.
Overseas donations to be used for charitable activities are lawfully entitled to a reduction or exemption from import duties and also from import VAT.
Article 81: Where beneficiaries accept charitable donations, they are lawfully entitled to tax benefits.
Article 82: Where charitable organizations, donors, or beneficiaries enjoy tax benefits in accordance with law, relevant departments shall promptly handle the relevant procedures.
Article 83: Where donors donate physical objects, securities, equity, and intellectual property right to charitable organizations, administrative fees related to transferring rights are waived in accordance with law.
Article 84: The State implements special preferential policies for the carrying out of charitable activities on poverty relief and aid.
Article 85: Where charitable organizations carrying out the charitable activities stipulated by Items 1 and 2 of Article 3 of this Law require land for charitable service facilities, they may apply to use state-owned allocated land or rural collective construction land in accordance with law. The use of land for charitable services must not be altered except through legally prescribed procedures.
Article 86: The State provides financial policy support for charitable endeavors, encouraging financial establishments to provide financial services such as financing and bill keeping to charitable organizations and charitable trusts.
Article 87: All levels of people's government and their relevant departments may lawfully use methods such as purchase of services to support charitable organizations in providing service to the public, and follow the relevant laws and regulations on government procurement to report relevant circumstances to the public.
Article 88: The State employs measures to promote a culture of charity and to foster citizens' awareness of charity.
Schools and other educational institutions shall include philanthropic culture in education and teaching content. The State encourages institutions of higher learning to cultivate talent in charitable specialties, and supports institutions of higher learning and research institutions to carry out theoretical research on charities.
Media such as radio, television, press, and the internet shall actively conduct charity and public interest publicity activities, popularize charity knowledge, and spread philanthropic culture.
Article 89: The State encourages enterprises, public institutions, and other organizations to provide venues and other facilitation of charitable activities.
Article 90: With the consent of the beneficiaries, donors may put a commemorative name on charitable projects to which they have donated, but where provisions of law or regulations require approvals, follow those provisions.
Article 91: The State establishes a commendation system for charities, where the people's governments at the county level or above or relevant departments give commendations to natural persons, legal persons and other organizations that make outstanding contributions in charitable endeavors.
Chapter X: Oversight And Management
Article 92: The civil affairs departments of people's governments at the county level or above shall perform their duties according to law, conduct oversight and inspections of charitable activities, and give guidance to charity industry organizations.
Article 93: The civil affairs departments of the people's governments at the county level or above have the authority to take the following measures against charitable organizations suspected of violating the provisions of this law:
(1) carry out on-site inspections of the charity's offices and the place where charitable activities occur;
(2) Demand that charitable organizations make explanations, and access or reproduce relevant data;
(3) Conduct investigations with relevant work units and individuals related to charitable activities regarding situations related to supervision and management;
(4) Inquire into charitable organizations' financial accounts, with the approval of the people's governments at the same level;
(5) Other measures provided for by laws and administrative regulations.
Article 94: Where civil affairs department of people's governments at the county level or above conduct inspections or investigations of charitable organizations, relevant work units or individuals, there shall be no fewer than two inspectors or investigators, and they shall present legitimate documents and inspection or investigation notices.
Article 95: The civil affairs departments of people's governments at the county level and above shall establish credit record systems for charitable organizations and their responsible persons, and shall make these public.
Civil affairs departments shall establish a system for the assessment of charitable organizations, encourage and support third-party organizations to make assessments of charitable organizations, and publicly publish assessment results.
Article 96: Charity industry organizations shall establish and perfect industry standards and strengthen industry self-regulation.
Article 97: Any unit and individual who discovers that a charitable organization or a charitable trust has violated the law may make a complaint or report to the civil affairs department, other relevant department or the charity industry organization. Civil affairs departments, other relevant departments or charitable industry organizations shall, upon receipt of a complaint or report, promptly investigate and handle it.
The State encourages the public and the media to exercise supervision over charitable activities, and to expose any obtaining of assets by deception in the name of a charity or by posing as a charitable organization; as well as any violations of the laws and regulations by charitable organizations and trusts; giving full play to public opinion and social supervision.
Chapter XI: Legal Responsibility
Article 98: Where charitable organizations have any of the following situations, the civil affairs departments will order corrections be made within a stated time; where corrections are not made within the stated time, revoke registration certificates and make a public announcement:
(1) Did not follow the charitable purpose in carrying out charitable activities;
(2) privately divided, embezzled, withheld, or misappropriated charitable assets;
(3) Accepted donations with conditions that violate laws and regulations or are contrary to social morals, or attached conditions for beneficiaries that violate laws and regulations or are contrary to social morals;
Article 99: Where charitable organizations have any of the following situations, the civil affairs departments give a warning and order corrections be made within a stated time; where corrections are not made within the stated time, order activities temporarily suspended for a fixed time and that corrections be made;
(1) Violating Article 14 of this law, causing losses of charitable assets;
(2) Using assets that must not be used for investment for investments;
(3) Changing the use of donated assets of one's own accord;
(4) having standards for annual expenditures for conducting charitable activities or for management costs violating provisions of article 60 of this law;
(5) failing to perform information disclosure obligations in accordance with law;
(6) failing to submit an annual work report or financial accounting report, or fundraising plan;
(7) Revealing private personal information of donors, volunteers or beneficiaries, as well as information such as the names, titles, address, and contact menthod of donors or charitable trust trustees who do not consent to it being disclosed, must not be made public.
Where charitable organizations violate the provisions of this law by revealing State secrets or commercial secrets, punishment is given in accordance with the relevant laws.
Where charitable organizations have situations provided for in the preceding two paragraphs, and within one year of a disposition a situation provided for in the preceding paragraph occurs again, or where there are other serious situations, the civil affairs departments will revoke registration certificates and make a public announcement.
Article 100: Where charitable organizations violating articles 98 or 99 of this law have unlawful gains, the civil affairs departments may confiscate them; persons who are directly in charge and other directly responsible personnel are fined between 20,000 and 200,000 yuan.
Article 101: Where the initiation of fundraising activities has any of the following circumstances, the civil affairs departments gives a warning and orders suspension of fundraising activities; unlawfully solicited assets are ordered returned to the donor; where there is difficulty in returning them, the civil affairs departments collect them and transfer them to other charitable organizations for charitable purposes; relevant organizations or individuals are fined between 20,000 and 200,000 yuan:
(1) An organization or individual not eligible to openly fund-raise openly fund-raises;
(2) false information or other means were used to trick or induce fundraising targets into making donations;
(3) Putting quotas or indirect quotas on units or individuals;
(4) Obstructing the public order, business and production, or residents' lives.
Where radio, television, press and network service providers or telecom operators do not perform their verification duties in accordance with Article 27 of this law, the competent departments give them a warning and order corrections be made in a set period of time; where corrections are not made in that time, a notice of criticism is circulated.
Article 102: Where charitable organizations fail to issue donors with a public welfare donation receipt in accordance with law, fail to issue volunteers a record showing volunteer service in accordance with law or do not promptly and actively give feedback to donors, the civil affairs departments will give a warning and order corrections within a stated time; and where corrections are not made within the stated time, order activities temporarily suspended.
Article 103: Where charitable organizations practice fraud to obtain tax benefits, the taxation organs investigate and make a disposition in accordance with law; where the circumstances are serious, the civil affairs departments revoke registration certificates and make a public announcement.
Article 104: Where charitable organizations engage in or fund activities that endanger national security or the public interest, the relevant organs investigate and reach a disposition in accordance with law, and the civil affairs departments revoke registration certificates and make a public announcement.
Article 105: Where trustees of charitable trusts have any of the following situations, the civil affairs departments give a warning and order corrections within a stated time; where there are unlawful gains, the civil affairs departments confiscates; the persons who are directly in charge and other directly responsible personnel are fined between 20,000 and 200,000 yuan:
(1) Using the trust assets and proceeds for non-charitable purposes;
(2) Failing to report on the handling of trust operations and financial positions to the civil affairs departments or to make disclosures to the public.
Article 106: Where in the course of charitable service beneficiaries or third parties suffer harms caused by the negligence of charitable organizations or volunteers, the charitable organizations bear responsibility for compensation in accordance with law; and where the harm is intentionally caused by a volunteer or their gross negligence, the charitable organizations may seek compensation from them.
Where in the course of participating in charitable service volunteers suffer harms caused by the negligence of charitable organizations, the charitable organizations bear responsibility for compensation in accordance with law; and where the harm is caused by force majeure, the charitable organizations shall give appropriate subsidies.
Article 107: Where natural persons, legal persons or other organizations defraud assets falsely in the name of charity or pretending to be charitable organizations, the public security organs investigate and make a disposition in accordance with law;
Article 108: Where civil affairs departments and other relevant departments of people's governments at the county level or above, or their staffs, have any of the following situations, the relevant departments at the level above or the supervisory organ order corrections; where a punishment should be given, the organ for hiring and terminations, or the supervisory organ, gives sanctions to the persons who are directly in charge and other directly responsible personnel:
(1) failure to perform information disclosure obligations in accordance with law;
(2) Giving quotas or indirect quotas for fundraising tasks, forcibly appointing volunteers or charitable organizations to provide sources;
(3) failure to perform oversight and management duties in accordance with law;
(4) Unlawfully implementing administrative compulsory measures or administrative punishments;
(5) privately divided, embezzled, withheld, or misappropriated charitable assets;
(6) Other conduct abusing professional powers, dereliction of duties, or improper conduct for personal gain.
Article 109: Where violations of provisions of this law constitute a public security administration violation, the public security organs will give public security administrative sanctions in accordance with law; where a crime is constituted, pursue criminal responsibility in accordance with law.
Chapter XII: Supplementary Provisions
Article 110: Urban and rural community organizations and units can conduct mass mutual assistance and aid activities within their own organizations and units.
Article 111: Organizations other than charitable organizations may carry out charitable organizations within their own power.
Article 112: This law shall enter into force on September 1, 2016.