Grassroots NGOs lack funds

In the past decade, donations to charity in China has been growing steadily, but nothing matched the donations in 2008, when the whole country came together after the devastating May earthquake.

Statistics from the Ministry of Civil Affairs show that quake donations totaled 107 billion yuan ($15.73 billion) in 2008, about 3.5 times the previous year. For the first time, private donations exceeded corporate ones, reaching 45.8 billion yuan, more than half the total, with each person contributing 34.6 yuan ($5) on average.

"China is moving toward a modern society in terms of giving to charity," says Yang Tuan, deputy director of the Social Policy Research Center at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.