Charitable donations to mainland fall

The Chinese mainland saw a decline in charitable donations from overseas in 2011, according to a report on philanthropy in China released by the country's top think tank on Thursday.

The mainland received about 9.24 billion yuan ($1.45 billion) from overseas donors in 2011, 3.65 billion yuan less than the amount in 2010, said the Blue Book of Philanthropy, released by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

The total value of money and goods given to the charity sector on the mainland declined by about 18 percent, from 103.2 billion yuan in 2010 to 84.5 billion in 2011, the report said, citing statistics from the China Charity and Donation Information Center, an organization affiliated with the Ministry of Civil Affairs.