Foreign NGO Financials

In conversation with The China NGO project, multiple NGOs have expressed confusion about the exact documentation required to satisfy the requirement for “proof of funding” when filing for a temporary activity. We are unaware of detailed written...

Yes. Guidance provided by Beijing Normal University’s Charity Law Center states that foreign NGOs wishing to donate funds to an activity or program taking place in China—even one held by another foreign NGO—must do so through a temporary activity...

March 20, 2019:The Tianjin Public Security Bureau (PSB) Foreign NGO Management Office recently held an informal discussion at the Japan Kobe International Cooperation and Exchange Center in Tianjin to address the promotion of friendly exchange...

Wang Zhenyao raised some interesting points in a pre-censored interview with Caixin that are relevant for NGOs working in China. One of Wang’s main insights in the interview was that public discourse about civil society organizations contributed to...

Any foreign NGO seeking to register a representative office or file for a temporary activity in China must prepare a number of official documents in the location where it is headquartered. These documents must be notarized and authenticated in the...

With almost 300 foreign NGO representative offices registered this year, implementation of the Foreign NGO Law has entered a new phase: management. For foreign NGOs that were operating informally or under a different status before, formal...

Though the Foreign NGO Law forbids foreign NGOs from partnering with for-profit organizations for activities, may foreign NGOs contract with for-profit entities for certain services?The Ministry of Public Security has not issued official written...

As we approach one year since the Foreign NGO Law went into effect, these are some of the common questions and concerns we’re hearing from legal professionals, scholars, funders, and NGOs themselves—along with any answers we are able to offer. The...

As part of an ongoing effort to streamline red tape, on October 31 the National People’s Congress Standing Committee struck several provisions from a draft version of the Accounting Law currently under deliberation, which in turn affected the...

Cold hard cash—it’s an issue that has come up in many of our conversations about temporary activities. As we note in one of our FAQs, it can be quite pricey for foreign NGOs operating in China to compile all the documentation and authorizations...

The Environmental Law Institute has shared a version of the document it recently created to formalize a temporary activity agreement with its Chinese Partner Unit. This template is is available here, so that other foreign NGOs can use it to create...

On May 19, the People’s Bank of China and the Ministry of Public Security jointly issued the “Notice on Work Related to Foreign NGO Representative Offices’ Renminbi Bank Account Management” (关于做好境外非政府组织代表机构人民币银行账户管理有关工作的通知). According to the...

Based on the text of the Foreign NGO Law, it does not appear that foreign NGOs can lawfully give grants directly to individuals, such as for travel to workshops outside China, without a Chinese Partner as an intermediary. Article 22 states that...

According to the NGOs in China blog’s summary of guidance provided by the Ministry of Public Security at a 2016 Q&A session, “Article 21 [of the law] permits foreign NGOs to use ‘other funds legally acquired within China’ for their...