Civil Society, Chinese Style:The Rise of the Nonprofit Sector in Post-Mao China - NPQ - Nonprofit Quarterly

Civil Society, Chinese Style:The Rise of the Nonprofit Sector in Post-Mao China - NPQ - Nonprofit Quarterly: n July of 2012, hundreds of Chinese nonprofits shared a moment of celebration: China’s first-ever charity fair had taken place, in Shenzhen, a south China municipality that aspires to become a “city of philanthropy” and a “city of volunteers.” The charity fair had a strong government flavor: it was hosted by the Ministry of Civil Affairs (MOCA) and the local Shenzhen government. This event, along with President and General Secretary Hu Jintao’s call for stronger and more creative forms of social management (and the release of draft guidelines for the development of Chinese philanthropy—a five-year plan for 2011–2015—by MOCA in the previous year), sends a clear signal that the Chinese government is now ready to recognize the tremendous growth of the nonprofit and voluntary sector, and to value its contribution to Chinese society.