Sowing seeds of charity

ZHENGZHOU: Philanthropy is a word linked with wealth and development. After all, how can philanthropy and charity blossom in underdeveloped areas?

But Zhoukou, an inland city two hours drive from Zhengzhou, capital of Central China's Henan province, provides a striking example of the robust development of charity in a relatively poor place.

Founded in December 1998, the Zhoukou Charity Federation has sown the seed of charity in the region.

"I have full confidence in the development of charity in developing areas," says Liu Baili, the federation's secretary-in-chief.

According to Liu, Zhoukou's position in Henan offers a mini-picture of Henan in China.

"Zhoukou is the most populous city in the province with 11 million people from both urban and rural area," he says.

Last year, the federation collected more than 30 million yuan of charity funds to help people in need.

"What makes us proud is not the amount of the money collected, but the number of people we've effectively helped and the well-organized charity network we've established," Liu says.

Since its inception, the federation has helped more than 4,000 orphans with subsidies of 1,340 yuan each per year as well subsidizing over 1,000 high school students by giving each of them 2,680 yuan every year. It has also released funds to more than 2,300 poor college students.

The federation has also donated funds for surgery to more than 5,000 cleft pallet patients and some 7,000 cataract sufferers.

"Zhoukou is a place with a high occurrence of cataractsit is estimated the number of the patients is over 50,000," he says.

This year, the federation is planning to extend its charity program to help more heart disease and leukemia sufferers, as well as poor high school students and the elderly.

"We're hoping to share the burden with the government and alleviate peoples' suffering," he says.

Zhoukou has established a four-tier network covering city, county, township and village levels.

More than 4,000 villages have a charity-focused coordinator.

At the same time, the federation has set up offices in Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Zhengzhou.

According to the federation, 80 percent of its funds are from overseas, 10 percent are from local well-performing enterprises and the other 10 percent from individuals from all walks of life.

"Compared with countries where inheritance tax is levied, charity in China grows relatively slow," Liu says.

In his eyes, the inheritance tax is a signal for the prosperity of charity because people would measure the merits of charity in front of heavy tax, which means limited gains from the inheritance.

Besides, people in western countries have the tradition to expect their children to be more independent and creative. Therefore, the inheritance legacy doesn't have to be a sum of money. Spirit and a good business start-up environment is as important as the money left by the older generation that have passed away, Liu says.

"We expect more legal protection and guaranteed work in this field to sustain the healthy development of charity in China."

(China Daily 03/24/2008 page8)