Luo says the volunteer work has done wonders for the people she works with–and for her own mental health. She’s thankful she saw the announcement placed in the newspaper by a philanthropic group asking for volunteers. Some of Luo’s peers were skeptical when she told them of her plans to sign up. “They told me to be sure I wasn’t being taken advantage of, but even if I am I think helping others is great!” Luo says.
The spirit of giving is seizing hold of the Middle Kingdom. After two decades of rapid economic reform–during which time per capita income has tripled–more and more Chinese are realizing they have enough money, and spare time, to contribute to those who are in poor health or who have missed out on the country’s boom. The country’s largest charity organization, the China Charity Federation, has seen its donations steadily climb since it opened 10 years ago. In 1995 the group collected only about $488,000 in donations. Through October of this year, it had received more than $22.3 million.
The newly rich are building schools in their hometowns. Members of the emerging middle class are planting trees and using their mobile phones to send donations to their favorite causes. A Chinese Internet company teamed up with NBA star Yao Ming to host a telethon for the fight against SARS, pushing the total amount raised in the country to $480 million, 65 percent of which came from domestic donors. Beijing is full of little signs that “serving the people” is more than just a communist ideal.
Chinese have historically given freely to their families and friends, but have mixed feelings about giving to strangers. During the early days of communism (and to some extent today), the government practically forced people to give money to the less fortunate, especially after natural disasters. Work-unit leaders acted as the collectors, often subtracting cash from workers’ paychecks without notifying them. As a result of these unpleasant experiences, many Chinese have grown to view philanthropy not as altruism but rather as taxation in disguise. It’s a fact that top government ministers have acknowledged and tried to dispel. At a recent corporate social-responsibility conference held in Beijing, “one of the presenters said that one of the things the government could do to encourage giving is to stop requiring it,” says Kelly Lau, who attended the conference and is director of corporate social responsibility for Apco Asia, a public-relations firm.
As the Chinese government slowly abandons its authoritarian approach, more and more companies and individuals have stepped into the charity breach, giving both time and money. There are plenty of people in need–including 25 million to 30 million workers laid off from state enterprises, more than 1 million people infected with HIV and the children of impoverished migrant workers, who cannot afford to go to school. Some newer residents of the wealthier cities, such as Beijing, are donating money to people in impoverished villages far from the prosperous coast. Na Yuan, 37, is an editor at the China Industry and Commerce News in Beijing, where she can afford a house and a car on her salary. An artist on the side, Na uses the money she earns on paintings, as well as some cash she made from the sale of her former home in her native Shandong province, to help pay for the education of 142 poor children in distant Xinjiang, Yunnan and Guizhou provinces. “Everything is going all right now for me,” she said. “I feel rather happy helping others.”
Although more Chinese are giving to charities, the country has a long way to go before it catches up with its Asian neighbors. Even South Koreans, notoriously tightfisted when it comes to organized charity, donate roughly $2 per person each year, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, compared with less than $1 per person in China. Other developing Asian nations, such as the Philippines, are also way ahead of China when it comes to giving money and recruiting volunteers for social-welfare groups. But as they’re doing in many other areas, when it comes to acts of kindness, the Chinese are beginning to catch up.
