China Philanthropy

Top Posts of 2009

It's the end of the year and that means everyone is coming out with "best of the year" lists. We didn't want to be left out so we've gathered our own list of top viewed posts.

The Top Five

5. Baobei Foundation: An Interview with Carol Hoag

4. A 5 Minute Guide to Rural Education

3. New Private Foundations in China Blazing Trails

2. What’s an INGO to do?: The Uncertainty of Registering an International NGOs in China

1. Literacy in China

Merry Christmas!

The SVG team wishes you a Merry Christmas! Please click here to view our holiday card with highlights from 2009. As 2010 approaches, we look forward to the many opportunities it will bring. Please let us know how we can serve you in the coming year!

--Georgia

A 5 Minute Guide to Mental Health in China

In the past year new information has emerged concerning the state of mental healthcare and the mentally ill in China. According to the World Health Organization, mental illness supersedes heart disease and cancer as the most taxing health concern in China’s healthcare system. An estimated 100 million people in China have some type of mental disorder although some say this number is likely higher due to the dearth of information available and the lack of public awareness regarding mental illness. Xinhua reports that “twenty percent of all ailments and injury-led disabilities in China” are caused by mental illness. Dr. Huang Yueqin, director of the National Center for Mental Health, told Telegraph that she estimates only about 5 percent of those with illnesses are aware of it and receive treatment. (It is important to note the range of illnesses covered under these statistics, which include anxiety and Internet addiction as well as depression and schizophrenia.)

SVG in This Month’s China Economic Review: Private Philanthropy in China

This month’s China Economic Review (CER; requires a subscription to view) has a special feature on the growing trend in private philanthropy amongst China’s wealthiest businessmen (featuring our own Managing Director, Grace Chiang.) Philanthropy has traditionally been kept on the down low in China, largely for cultural reasons; however, the growing number of private foundations has set the public on edge. Many people are distrustful of the wealthy and consider the rise in philanthropic endeavors as a thinly veiled way to evade taxes or plump up their own image and that of their business.

CSR in China: Past, Present, and Future

Today we bring you a guest post from Plan China's Zheng Wei. Zheng is primarily responsible for implementing the organization’s corporate-community partnership strategy with multinational companies and foundations and advising companies on effective community programs. Having worked both at Plan’s fundraising offices in Canada as well as the field offices in rural China, he has gained a good understanding about the needs from both the donor and the field.

When we look at the present state of China we can see two distinct faces. The first is one of rapid economic development and continuous prosperity over the last two decades. The other is that of the rural areas, which lag far behind the developed cities especially in environmental and social challenges. Over one hundred million people in China still live on less than a dollar a day. Other challenges for the country include large-scale migration, a declining child population, approximately thirty-four million children living in poverty, and if it remains unchecked, the spread of HIV/AIDS.