CHINA'S CHARITY organizations received 104 billion yuan ($16 billion) in donations in 2014, 52.9 billion yuan more than the previous year, according to a report issued by the China Charity Information Center on Saturday. At least 75 percent of the donations were made in areas such as healthcare, education and poverty alleviation. Comments:

Anomalies, even crimes, have often marred the use of money donated to charities in China, which include frauds and poor management of donations. Such illegal activities have dealt a blow to the good cause and undermined public trust in charities. It is clear that the lack of a specific law or regulation on charities has led to the chaos in what should be one of the most compassionate activities. If nothing is done to stem the rot, the charity sector could even become the black sheep of modern governance.

southcn.com, Sept 21

China has lagged behind many developed economies in building a legal system that supports charity work. There is neither a specific law on charity organizations and their work nor any regulation designed to encourage donations and manage volunteers. Therefore, the country's top legislature should consider enacting a specific law on charity organizations, because it will also expedite efforts to make the tax system more favorable to donors by exempting the donated amounts from tax.

Beijing News, Sept 20

(China Daily 09/22/2015 page9)