Better charity management

The total value of money and goods donated to charity in 2011 declined compared with the previous year. This highlights the need for a more transparent charity system and further cultivation of benevolence in the country.

The annual charity report, published by the charity information center under the Ministry of Civil Affairs on the weekend, shows that Chinese people donated 62.7 yuan ($9.90) each on average last year. Even though the growth in GDP was about 9.1 percent in 2011, donations dropped by 18.1 percent compared with 2010 to a total of 84.5 billion yuan.

The lack of serious natural disasters in 2011, such as the previous year's fatal earthquake in Yushu and the deadly mudslide in Zhouqu, was one of the major reasons for the drop in donations, as highly publicized one-off disasters tend to produce a surge of compassion. But a series of scandals involving charity organizations also damped people's enthusiasm to donate.