History, culture help with real problems: Charity leaders

The study of charity's history and culture worldwide helps provide solutions for the challenges faced by the China's burgeoning charity sector, charity leaders said on Tuesday.

Chen Yueguang, director-general of the Dunhe Foundation, said that history is crucial to understanding charity culture, and charity leaders can learn a lot from examining that culture in both the East and the West.

"The lessons we draw from history can help tackle issues that charity circles face now," he said.

Chen spoke at the China Charity Culture Forum 2018, jointly held by the China Charity Alliance and Dunhe Foundation in Beijing on Tuesday.

The half-day event is the third of its kind since 2016, when the first was held in Shenzhen, South China's Guangdong province.

The forum aims to find solutions in the sector through a retrospect of the country's history of charitable ideals and practices – which dates back to the Qin Dynasty (221-206 BC).

The theme for this year is "Evolution and the Inheritance of Chinese Charity Culture".

Wang Yueyun, director-general of He Foundation based in Guangdong province, noted that Chinese charity leaders' ambitions should seek to make the country's charity culture part of the world's.

Public donations topped 75.5 billion yuan ($11.1 billion) in China in 2017, according to the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

China's first Charity Law took effect on Sept 1, 2016.