The following are a few of the questions and ideas we’re still grappling with after our initial discussions with the NGO community and others interested in Chinese civil society. We expect to be revisiting these ideas in the weeks and months to come.
One of the mandates of the newly-enacted Law on the Management of Foreign Non-Governmental Organizations’ Activities in the People’s Republic of China is that all Foreign NGOs with a permanent footprint in China must register with the Ministry of Public Security (MPS) to legally establish a “representative office.” Since the law went into effect on January 1, Chinese authorities have approved the registration of 69 foreign NGO representative offices (as of April 24), representing 62 distinct organizations (some NGOs have more than one representative office).
This sortable table lists the temporary activities that foreign NGOs have filed for since January 2017, and includes foreign NGOs’ activity names, Chinese Partner Units, activity dates, and activity locations. Click on any heading column to sort the table data alphabetically or numerically, based on the column clicked. Click on the same column again to sort in reverse alphabetical or numerical order.
In recounting its experiences with the new filing process, the first NGO to successfully register for and carry out a temporary activity stressed that a willingness to educate Chinese partner units was key. Given how new the law is and how uncertain many aspects of implementation remain, even an established or enthusiastic Chinese partner unit is often as much in the dark as foreign NGOs themselves are. The NGO said that it provided its partner unit with links to the foreign NGO law, to the Ministry of Public Security’s main foreign NGO portal, and to required forms and documents. The NGO also assisted in filling out forms and writing up contracts.
This interactive map shows the approximate location of foreign NGOs’ representative offices in China. Click on a foreign NGO name in the sidebar to zoom in to that location on the map and display a pop-up containing the NGO’s Chinese name, country/territory of origin, Professional Supervisory Unit, sector(s) of work, date of registration, and permitted area of activity. Click on a pin on the map to zoom in to that pin and display its pop-up. Click and drag on the map to re-center it. The table provides the same information in a sortable text format. Click on any heading column to sort the table data alphabetically or numerically, based on the column clicked. Click on the same column again to sort in reverse alphabetical or numerical order.
Some provincial Public Security Bureaus have posted lists of Professional Supervisory Units (PSUs). The following are links to all the provincial-level PSU lists (in Chinese) that The China NGO Project was able to find online. All lists are in Chinese except where noted.
The Chinese government has established “coordination groups” at the national and provincial levels specifically to manage Foreign NGOs in the context of the newly-enacted Law on the Management of Foreign Non-Governmental Organizations’ Activities in the People’s Republic of China. According to authoritative Chinese media, the National Coordinating Small Group for Foreign NGO Management Work was established in May 2016, though it seems not to have been publicly reported until this year.
