What on earth has dampened the charitable drive of the Chinese? How should the public respond to the needy and why?

Though a large majority of Chinese donate to charity, their total donation has remained almost the same for the past nine years, shows a recent China Central Television (CCTV) survey.

About 21 percent of those polled by CCTV said they seldom donated to charity, even though 56 percent did so once a year.

Only 23 percent of the respondents donated frequently.

That means Chinese in general are generous because nearly 80 percent donated to charity at least once a year.

But last year, the donations were about 10 billion yuan ($1.28 billion), a figure that has remained static since 1998, said Wang Zhenyao, director of the disaster relief department of the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

Wang urged more people to loosen their pure strings to charity.

"Lots of donors are discouraged because they are not given the details, such as on what projects would the donated money be spent and who would be the beneficiaries," Wang said.

"Therefore, many people feel their act of charity is not being given due respect."

"The ministry plans to introduce a mechanism to phase out unprofessional and bureaucratic charitable organizations to encourage more people to donate to charity," Wang said.

"A smooth donation channel will create more philanthropists."

But the donation incentive, as the survey suggested, lacks luster because only 12 percent of those surveyed were enthusiastic donors.

"I contacted a charity organization and donated 4,000 yuan (US$500) to help children get education. I chose a Beijing student because it's more convenient for me to check if the money has indeed gone to the beneficiary. I called the student to make sure that he had received the amount."

Ms Wang, a Beijing resident

"I have to drive a long distance to a charitable organization in Niujie in downtown Beijing whenever I want to donate something."

Li Huizhen, a pop singer

"Every penny I hand out has to be used properly to improve the life of the receiver Only then I can feel that the aim of my donation has been fulfilled. The lack of transparency in how donations are used is arguably the biggest factor discouraging people who want to donate to charity,"

An Hu, a 20-plus TV program host 
                                                                    (China Daily 01/29/2007 page2)

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