Private foundations flourishing in China

BEIJING - The number of foundations set up in China reached 2,961 in the third quarter of 2012, about three times that of 2005, the Ministry of Civil Affairs announced Tuesday.

The number of foundations in China has continued to increase steadily in recent years, with the number of private foundations overtaking public ones for the first time in 2011, according to a report released by the ministry's non-governmental organization administration.

The total assets of foundations across the country reached 78.5 billion yuan ($12.58 billion) in 2011, up 29.91 percent year on year, figures from the report show.

Foundations received donations worth 40.1 billion yuan and spent 28.9 billion yuan on public welfare projects in 2011, according to the report.

The administration also found an "obvious imbalance" in the layout of foundations in different regions throughout the country.

In 2011, the number of foundations in provincial-level regions, including Jiangsu, Guangdong, Zhejiang, Beijing and Hunan, accounted for about half of the nationwide total, according to the report.

Surging numbers of private foundations

In recent years, private foundations have expanded more quickly than their public counterparts, surpassing public ones in number for the first time in 2011, according to the report.

By 2011, the country had 1,296 private foundations, accounting for 53.75 percent of the total, figures from the report show.

Of the 351 foundations registered in 2011, 264, or 75.21 percent, are private.

In China, foundations are divided into two types: public foundations, which can raise funds from the public; and private foundations, which may not take public donations but rely entirely on funding from individuals or organizations.

The administration said in the report that as the number and scale of private charity foundations increase, they are gradually evolving into an important force for solving social problems, resolving social conflicts and promoting social development.

Private foundations are not only growing in terms of numbers, but they are also maturing in terms of project management, according to the report.

Private foundations outnumber their public counterparts

Private foundations get official support