NGOs register without government supervision in Shenzhen

By Chu Meng

Non-government organizations (NGOs) in Shenzhen can now register with the Bureau of Civil Affairs without needing a supervising governmental agency. It is the mainland’s first path to allowing grassroots organizations the legal status needed to receive foreign donations, authorities in Shenzhen said Monday.

Under the Social Organizations Registration and Administration Act, NGOs have to acquire official documents and receive a stamp from a supervising government agency. If the organization cannot meet all requirements, it would not be able to legally accept donations.

“Starting February, NG founders in Shenzhen need not find a relative government agency to take responsibility for its supervision. It can directly register to and be administered by the Bureau of Civil Affairs,” said Ma Hong, director of the Social Organization Administration Office under the Bureau of Civil Affairs.

The only requirements are that the NGO have a regular business location, full-time staff members and 30,000 yuan in registration capital.

“For quite a long time, getting the ‘stamp’ from a supervising body was the biggest bottleneck for grassroots organizations,” Xu Jingan, ex-director of Shenzhen Municipal Commission for Economic System Reform, said.

He said for years he wanted to open a professional organization to help people with their mental health problems. “Data showed China has about 100 million people with psychological disorders. Further, some 2,000 people commit suicide every year, and that number has grown ten-fold in the last 10 years,” he added.

However, from 2000 till 2009 no government agency would share responsibility with Xu. On January 17, his center opened in Shenzhen as the first “direct-registration” NGO.

The regulation that NGOs be co-administered by a civil affairs government office is a requirement unique to China. But few public administration offices are interested in taking on this responsibility, making NGO registration effectively impossible. 

There are many grassroots NGOs on the mainland, and most of them are unregistered. A few are registered as business organizations: fewer are registered as civil affairs offices.