NGOs' role evolves in changing China

Giving back to the community and charity are the common tag lines used globally to identify non-governmental organizations. But that may soon change as organizations in China are fast reshaping the role and definition of NGOs in modern times.

Here is how that could soon be a reality. In the foreseeable future, farmers from Africa may soon find that high-yield rice seedlings, being developed jointly by the Chinese government and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, may help the continent stave off most of its hunger problems.

Rather than funding projects to tackle China's hunger challenge, much like what the Rockefeller Foundation did about 30 years ago, the Seattle-based Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has opted to work with the Ministry of Science and Technology to help Chinese scientists find solutions to food problems in other developing nations.