Red Cross Society vows to improve transparency

BEIJING - The Red Cross Society of China has vowed to establish an efficient, transparent and normative system of management, information and supervision in three to five years.

Zhao Baige, executive vice president of the RCSC, said at a press conference on Thursday that the Red Cross Society is aligned with China's socialist market system as well as international humanitarian principles.

"We have finished the design and public tender for both the software and hardware of the RCSC's information system," Zhao said, adding that the system's basic functions, especially those related to monetary donations, will be put into operation at the end of December.

The RCSC came under fire in 2011 after a woman calling herself "Guo Meimei" wrote microblog posts claiming that she worked for an organization under the RCSC. Her posts also detailed her lavish lifestyle, leading some netizens to believe she was embezzling funds.

Although it was later found that the organization "Guo" claimed to work for did not exist, the incident had a negative impact on the RCSC and triggered calls for greater scrutiny over charitable organizations.

On Tuesday, the State Council, China's Cabinet, issued a guideline to encourage the RCSC to boost its transparency.

Zhao said the RCSC will carry out the requirements specified in the guideline, and it plans to expand the use of the information system to 80 percent of the provincial branches of the RCSC by the end of 2013. It will also extend the system to more than 50 percent of the Red Cross outlets at the county level by the end of 2014.

"The system will help the RCSC improve its transparency with the functions of fundraising management, publicizing the use of funds, and risk warning in material management," Zhao said.