Legislators stress charity transparency in draft law

BEIJING - Lawmakers of China's top legislature have stressed transparency as the underlying factor for the vitality and credibility of charities, urging better legislation.

The legislators made the remarks Wednesday during a discussion on a draft charity law, which was submitted for the second reading at the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee's bimonthly session.

Legislators Wu Xiaoling and Ma Wen suggested more specific methods for charitable organizations to disclose relevant information, while lawmaker Chen Zemin said such disclosure may take the disclosure systems for public companies as reference and there should be more specific stipulations to define a "timely disclosure".

Also, lawmakers such as Fang Xin said there should be a mandated standard in the law for a charity's minimum spending on philanthropic donations and a maximum cap for its operational costs.