Charity Law of the People's Republic of China

Charity Law of the People's Republic of China

Order of the President of the People's Republic of China

(No. 43)

The Charity Law of the People's Republic of China, as adopted at the 4th Session of the Twelfth National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China on March 16, 2016, is hereby issued, and shall come into force on September 1, 2016.

President of the People's Republic of China: Xi Jinping
March 16, 2016

Charity Law of the People's Republic of China
(Adopted at the 4th Session of the Twelfth National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China on March 16, 2016)
Table of Contents
Chapter I General Provisions
Chapter II Charitable Organizations
Chapter III Charitable Fundraising
Chapter IV Charitable Donation
Chapter V Charitable Trust
Chapter VI Charity Property
Chapter VII Charitable Services
Chapter VIII Information Disclosure
Chapter IX Promotional Measures
Chapter X Supervision and Administration
Chapter XI Legal Liability
Chapter XII Supplementary Provisions

Chapter I General Provisions

Article 1 This Law is developed for purposes of developing the charitable cause, carrying forward the charity culture, regulating charitable activities, protecting the lawful rights and interests of charitable organizations, donors, volunteers, beneficiaries and other participants of charitable activities, promoting social progress, and sharing development results.

Article 2 This Law shall apply to charitable activities and charity-related activities conducted by natural persons, legal persons and other organizations, except as otherwise specifically provided for by any other law.

Article 3 For the purpose of this Law, “charitable activities” means the following public welfare activities conducted voluntarily by natural persons, legal persons and other organizations in such manner as property donation or provision of services.
(1) Helping the poor and the needy.
(2) Giving relief to the aged, orphans, the sick, the disabled, and giving special care to disabled servicemen, and to family members of revolutionary martyrs and servicemen.
(3) Giving salvage to the damage caused by natural disasters, disastrous accidents, public health incidents and other emergencies.
(4) Promoting the development of education, science, culture, health, sports and other undertakings.
(5) Preventing and controlling pollution and other public hazards, and protecting and improving the ecological environment.
(6) Other public welfare activities prescribed in this Law.

Article 4 Charitable activities shall be conducted under the principles of legality, voluntariness, good faith and not-for-profit, shall not go against social ethnics, and shall not endanger national security, or damage pubic interest or any other person's lawful rights and interests.

Article 5 The state encourages and provides support for natural persons, legal persons and other organizations to practice the core value of socialism, carry forward the fine traditions of the Chinese nation, and conduct charitable activities in accordance with the law.

Article 6 The civil affairs department of the State Council shall take charge of the charity work nationwide, the civil affairs departments of local people's governments at or above the county level shall take charge of the charity work within their respective administrative regions; and the relevant departments of people's governments at or above the county level shall, in accordance with this Law and other relevant laws and regulations, effectively conduct the relevant work within the scope of their respective functions.

Article 7 September 5 each year shall be the “Chinese Charity Day”.

Chapter II Charitable Organizations

Article 8 For the purpose of this Law, “charitable organizations” means nonprofit organizations that are formed in accordance with the law, comply with the provisions of this Law, and are aiming at conducting charitable activities for the public.
Charitable organizations may adopt the forms of organization such as foundations, social organizations and social service agencies.

Article 9 A charitable organization shall meet the following conditions:
(1) It is aiming at conducting charitable activities.
(2) It conducts activities not for the purpose of making profits.
(3) It has its own name and domicile.
(4) It has its constitution.
(5) It has necessary property.
(6) It has an eligible organizational structure and a person in charge.
(7) It meets other conditions prescribed by laws and administrative regulations.

Article 10 To form a charitable organization, the applicant shall file a registration application with the civil affairs department of the people's government at or above the county level, and the civil affairs department shall make a decision within 30 days as of the date of acceptance of the application. If the application meets the conditions prescribed in this Law, it shall approve the registration and announce to the public; and if the application fails to meet the conditions prescribed in this Law, it shall disapprove the registration and give the reason for disapproval in writing.
A foundation, social organization, social service agency or any other nonprofit organization that has been formed before the issuance of this Law may apply to the civil affairs department registering it for recognizing it as a charitable organization, and the civil affairs department shall make a decision within 20 days as of acceptance of the application. If the applicant meets the conditions for charitable organizations, the civil affairs department shall recognize it and announce to the public; and if it fails to meet the conditions for charitable organizations, the civil affairs department shall not recognize it and shall give the reason in writing.
Where the term for registration or recognition needs to be extended under any particular circumstance, the term may be appropriately extended for not more than 60 days with the approval of the civil affairs department of the State Council.

Article 11 The constitution of a charitable organization shall comply with the provisions of laws and regulations, and specify the following matters:
(1) Name and domicile.
(2) Form of organization.
(3) Aim and scope of activities.
(4) Property sources and composition.
(5) Composition and functions of the decision-making and executive bodies.
(6) Internal supervision mechanism.
(7) Rules for property management and use.
(8) Project management rules.
(9) Circumstances requiring termination and the methods for liquidation after termination.
(10) Other important matters.

Article 12 A charitable organization shall, according to the provisions of laws, regulations and the constitution, establish and improve the internal governance structure, specify the scope of functions in such aspects as decision-making, implementation and supervision, and conduct charitable activities.
The charitable organization shall implement national uniform accounting rules, conduct accounting in accordance with the law, establish and improve accounting supervision rules, and accept the supervision and administration of the relevant departments of the government.

Article 13 A charitable organization shall, on an annual basis, submit annual work reports and financial accounting reports to the civil affairs department registering it. The reports shall cover the information on fundraising and acceptance of donations in a year, the management and use of charity property, the implementation of charity projects and the salaries and welfare of employees of the charitable organization.

Article 14 The promoter, major donors and managers of a charitable organization shall not use their affiliation relationship to damage the interests of the charitable organization and beneficiaries or public interest.
Where the promoter or any major donor or manager of the charitable organization has any transaction with the charitable organization, it or he shall not participate in the charitable organization's decision-making on the transaction, and the information on the transaction shall be made available to the public.

Article 15 A charitable organization shall not conduct or subsidize the activities endangering national security and public interest, shall not accept any donation under any additional conditions in violation of any law or regulation or against social ethnics, and shall not set on the beneficiary any additional conditions in violation of any law or regulation or against social ethics.

Article 16 Whoever falling under any of the following circumstances shall not serve as the person in charge of a charitable organization:
(1) The person has no civil conduct capacity or has limited civil conduct capacity.
(2) The person has been given a criminal punishment due to intentional crime, and it has not been five years since the date of completion of the sentence.
(3) The person serves as the person in charge of an organization of which the registration certificate is revoked or which is banned, and it has not been five years since the registration certificate of the organization is revoked or the organization is banned.
(4) Any other circumstance prescribed in laws and administrative regulations.

Article 17 A charitable organization that falls under any of the following circumstances shall be terminated:
(1) Any circumstance requiring termination as prescribed in the constitution occurs.
(2) Termination is required for its division or combination.
(3) It fails to conduct charitable activities for two consecutive years.
(4) It is deregistered or its registration certificate is revoked in accordance with the law.
(5) Any other circumstance requiring termination as prescribed by laws and administrative regulations.

Article 18 A charitable organization that terminates shall conduct liquidation.
The decision-making body of a charitable organization shall form a liquidation team to conduct liquidation within 30 days as of the occurrence of the circumstance requiring termination as set forth in Article 17 of this Law, and announce it to the public. If no liquidation team is formed or the liquidation team fails to perform functions, the civil affairs department may apply to the people's court for designating the relevant personnel to form a liquidation team to conduct liquidation.
The remaining property after the liquidation of the charitable organization shall be transferred to the charitable organization with the same or similar aim according to the provisions of the constitution of the charitable organization; and if it is not provided for in the constitution, the civil affairs department shall transfer the property to the charitable organization with the same or similar aim, and announce to the public.
The charitable organization shall, after its liquidation, undergo deregistration formalities at the civil affairs department registering it, and the civil affairs department shall announce to the public.

Article 19 Charitable organizations shall form an industry organization in accordance with the law.
The charity industry organization shall reflect the demands of the industry, promote industry exchange, enhance the credibility of the charity industry, and promote the development of the charitable cause.

Article 20 The specific measures for the form of organization and registration management of charitable organizations shall be developed by the State Council.

Chapter III Charitable Fundraising

Article 21 For the purpose of this Law, “charitable fundraising” means the activities of charitable organizations to raise funds for charitable purposes.
“Charitable fundraising” includes fundraising from the public and fundraising from specific objects.

Article 22 A charitable organization that fundraises from the public shall obtain the qualification for fundraising from the public. A charitable organization that has been legally registered for two years or more may apply to the civil affairs department registering it for the qualification for fundraising from the public. The civil affairs department shall make a decision within 20 days as of the date of acceptance of the application. If the charitable organization complies with the conditions of having a sound internal governance structure and standard operations, the civil affairs department shall issue the qualification certificate for fundraising from the public to it; and if it fails to meet the conditions, the civil affairs department shall not issue the qualification certificate for fundraising from the public to it and shall give the reason in writing.
The civil affairs department shall directly issue the qualification certificate for fundraising from the public to a foundation or social organization that is allowed by any law or administrative regulation to fundraise from the public as of the date of registration.

Article 23 Fundraising from the public may be conducted in the following ways:
(1) Setting collection boxes in public places.
(2) Holding charity performance, matches, bazaars, exhibitions, auctions and parties, among others, for the public.
(3) Releasing fundraising information through broadcasting, television, newspapers and journals, Internet and other media.
(4) Other ways to fundraise from the public.
Where a charitable organization fundraises from the public in the way prescribed in item (1) or (2) of the preceding paragraph, it shall conduct fundraising within the region under the jurisdiction of the civil affairs department registering it, and if it is indeed necessary to conduct fundraising outside the region under the jurisdiction of the civil affairs department registering it, it shall report to the civil affairs department of the people's government at or above the county level at the place where it conducts the fundraising activity for recordation. The donations made by donors shall not be subject to territorial restrictions.
Where the charitable organization fundraises from the public through the Internet, it shall release the fundraising information on the uniform charity information platform of or the charity information platform designated by the civil affairs department of the State Council, and may at the same time, release the fundraising information on its website.

Article 24 A fundraising plan shall be made for fundraising from the public. The fundraising plan shall cover the fundraising objective, starting and ending time and region, the name of the person in charge of the activity and office address, the ways of receiving donations, bank account, the beneficiary, the use of raised money and other property, the fundraising cost, and the handling of remaining property, among others.
The fundraising plan shall be reported to the civil affairs department that registers the charitable organization for recordation before the fundraising activity is conducted.

Article 25 For fundraising from the public, the name of the fundraising organization, the qualification certificate for fundraising from the public, fundraising plan, contact information and methods for the inquiry of fundraising information, among others, shall be disclosed at the place where the fundraising activity is held or on a conspicuous position of the carrier of the fundraising activity.

Article 26 An organization or an individual without the qualification for fundraising from the public may, for charitable purposes, cooperate with a charitable organization qualified to fundraise from the public, and the charitable organization shall organize the fundraising from the public and manage the raised money and other property.

Article 27 A radio, television, newspaper or journal, an online service provider or a telecommunications operator shall verify the registration certificate and qualification certificate for fundraising from the public of a charitable organization that fundraises from the public through its platform.

Article 28 A charitable organization may fundraise from specific objects as of the date of its registration.
A charitable organization shall conduct donor-specific fundraising within the scope of specific objects such as the promoter, members of the board of governors, and its members, and explain the fundraising objective, the use of raised money and other property, and other matters to the fundraising objects.

Article 29 Fundraising from specific objects shall not be conducted, directly or in disguise, in any way prescribed in Article 23 of this Law.

Article 30 Where any serious natural disaster, disastrous accident, public health incident or any other emergency occurs and immediate rescue is required, the relevant people's government shall establish a coordination mechanism, provide the demand information, and direct fundraising and rescue activities in a timely and orderly manner.

Article 31 In conducting fundraising activities, the lawful rights and interests of fundraising objects shall be respected and maintained, and the fundraising objects' right to know shall be guaranteed. Charitable organizations shall not defraud fundraising objects of donations or induce them to make donations by fabricating facts and other means.

Article 32 In conducting fundraising activities, apportionment or apportionment in disguise is prohibited, and the public order, enterprises' production and business operation, and residents' life shall not be obstructed.

Article 33 No organization or individual may conduct fundraising activities to fraudulently obtain property under the guise of charity or by counterfeiting any charitable organization.

Chapter IV Charitable Donation

Article 34 For the purpose of this Law, “charitable donation” means the voluntary and gratuitous donation of property by natural persons, legal persons and other organizations for charitab......