Charity begins at home

The submission of China's first draft charity law to the State Council is an important step towards regulating and encouraging philanthropy in the world's most populous country marked by an increasingly big wealth gap.

A Ministry of Civil Affairs official said on Sunday that the problem with charity work is no longer indifference and unwillingness to help the needy, but lack of information of how to donate and manage.

It is true that more and more individuals, companies and organizations are involved in the charity cause in recent years, especially since last year when the Sichuan earthquake on May 12 evoked an outpouring of love and care for those who suffered. According to the Ministry of Civil Affairs statistics, donations the nation received last year were valued at 107 billion yuan ($15.7 billion), an increase of 350 percent over the previous year.