Below is my translation of Mr. Xu Yongguang's remarks (along with the original Chinese text) at the Foreign Correspondent's Club of China on February 24, 2010.
非公募基金会：改变中国民间公益生态
徐永光
Nonpublic Fundraising (private) Foundations: Changing China’s Nongovernmental, Public Welfare Environment
Xu Yongguang
春节期间，我做了一个梦，梦见财政部和国家税务总局修改了关于非营利组织免税问题的两个政策性文件。这两个文件收紧了国家对非营利组织的税收优惠政策。为此，在2009年12月，24家基金会负责人致函财政部和国家税务总局，要求与财政部长谢旭人和国家税务总局局长肖捷直接对话，并请求国务院对两个文件的合法性进行审查。
During the Spring Festival, I had a dream to modify the two policy documents of the Ministry of Finance and State Administration of Taxation regarding non-profit organization tax exemption. These two documents restrict the state's preferential taxation policies toward nonprofits (NPOs). To this end, in December 2009, 24 Foundations wrote to the Ministry of Finance and State Administration of Taxation, asking for a direct dialogue with Mr. Xie, the Minister of Finance and State Administration of Taxation director, Mr Xiao Jie, and to request the State Council to carry out a review on the two documents.
这个事件，一方面反映了中国非营利组织发展的政策环境还不尽人意，一方面也反映在非营利组织认为自己的权益受到损害时，哪怕这种损害是来自政府部门，也懂得依据法律程序，来维护自己的权力。
This event, on the one hand shows that China's policy environment for NPOs is unsatisfactory. But it also shows that NPOs know how to protect their own rights in accordance with legal procedures when their rights are being infringed, even by government departments.
去年10月，我率中国非公募基金会赴美访问团，在哈佛大学的一次会议上说：“中国经济体制改革30年来，经济迅猛发展，已经成为世界第三大经济体，令世界感到意外。我相信，未来30年，中国的基金会的发展也会让世界感到意外，有可能是美国老大，中国老二”。中国的同行都以为然。
Last year in October, I led a delegation of China's non-public offering foundations to the United States to a meeting at Harvard University, where I said: "China's economic reforms 30 years ago, rapid economic development has become the world's third largest economy, and surprised the world . I believe that over the next 30 years, China's development of its foundations will surprise the world, and even become second only to the U.S. Chinese foundations all believe this.
2004年中国《基金会管理条例》的出台，使中国非公募基金会得以破茧而出。到2009年短短5年间，非公募从无到有，已经注册成立846家，数量直逼已经发展了30年的公募基金会会（991家）。更令人兴奋的是，因为私人财富的迅速增长，中国的巨型私人基金会已经出现。去年，有两位福建籍企业家相继亮相：上半年，福耀玻璃董事长曹德旺宣布要捐出价值40亿人民币的福耀玻璃股票成立以他父亲名字命名的“河仁基金会”，因此引发了捐股能否成立基金会的争论，促使财政部在当年发出了《关于企业公益性捐赠股权有关财务问题的通知》，明确捐股可以捐赠给基金会。下半年，福建富豪陈发树给刚刚成立的新华都基金会捐股票83亿，使这家基金会一夜之间成为中国资产规模最大的基金会。
非公募基金会作为中国“民间慈善崛起的新生代”（人民日报语），对于改变中国民间公益的生态环境具有重要意义。
China’s "Foundation Management Regulations" passed in 2004 was a breakthrough for China's non-public fundraising foundations. By 2009, just five years later, the number of non-public fundraising foundations have gone from 0 to 846, and nearly matched the number of public fundraising foundations that have developed over the last 30-years (991). Even more exciting is that because of the rapid growth of private wealth, large private foundations have emerged in China. Last year, two Fujian entrepreneurs emerged: in the first half of 2009, Fuyao Chairman Cao Dewang announced he would donate 4 billion yuan in Fuyao shares in his father's name to set up the "Heren Foundation," which led to a controversy over whether you could use company shares to establish a foundation. This prompted the Ministry of Finance to issue this year a "Notice on Financial Issues regarding Equity-linked Corporate Charitable Donations", to clarify that shares could be donated to foundations. In the second half of 2009, Fujian Regal Chen Fa Shu donated 8.3 billion yuan in stock to the newly established Xinhuadu Foundation, making that foundation’s assets the largest in China. Non-public fundraising foundations represent the "rise of a new generation of non-governmental charitable initiatives in China" (People's Daily), and is of great significance to changing the environment for China's nongovernmental public welfare sector.
一、 非公募基金会突破了民间组织登记难的制度瓶颈
长期以来，根据民间组织双重管理体制的规定，我国的基金会和慈善组织都带有很强“官办”色彩，只有政府或者其授权的部门才有设立慈善组织的可能。非公募基金会的设立，民政部门既可以做业务管理部门，又是登记注册部门，为企业和企业家回报社会、实现企业社会责任和参与公共事务提供了渠道。换句话说，过去，个人、企业参与公益，只有捐钱的权力，现在有权自己办公益组织了。
我国非公募基金会的发展正处于起飞的初期阶段，可以预期在接下来的10到20年期间还将是设立非公募基金会发展的高潮期。这与世界上各国基金会的发展规律基本吻合。
1. Non-public fundraising foundations have broken through the systemic bottleneck for civil society organization registration.
For a long time, due to the provisions of the dual management system for non-governmental organizations, China's foundations and philanthropic organizations have had a strong government background. Only the government or its authorized departments had the possibility of setting up charitable organizations. For non-public fundraising foundations, the Ministry of Civil Affairs can serve as both the professional supervising agency and the registration agency, in order for enterprises and entrepreneurs to give back to society, and realize corporate social responsibility and provide a channel for participation in public affairs. In other words, in the past, individuals and enterprises only had the power to donate money to participate in public service, now they can establish their own public welfare organizations.
The development of China's non-public fundraising foundations is in the early stages of take-off, and we can expect the next 10 to 20-year period to be the high tide. This will be in line with development of foundations in other countries.
二、 非公募基金会突破了民间慈善资源配置不合理的瓶颈
我国的公募基金会已经有20多年的发展历史。这些基金会的资金筹集、善款使用和日常管理等方方面面，难以脱离政府的控制和影响，民间捐赠的使用往往是从民间流向政府，弥补政府公共财政投入的不足。这既与政府职能转变的改革大势不符，也抑制了民间慈善力量的生长发育。中国非营利组织的增加值和就业人数，在服务业中所占比例大约都只占0.3%，与世界平均水平相差甚远，民间公益服务机构获取资源难是一个重要原因。这是中国民间组织继登记注册难之后的第二个制度瓶颈。
2. Non-public fundraising foundations have broken through the irrational bottleneck blocking the allocation of resources for nongovernmental charitable foundations.
Public fundraising foundations have a history of more than 20 years in China. The public foundation's fund-raising, donations, daily management, etc., are not easily separated from government control. And the use of private donations often gets diverted from the people to the government, in order to make up shortfalls in the government’s budget. This trend does not conform with the reform of government functions, and inhibits the growth and development of non-governmental charitable efforts. Chinese non-profit organizations represent only about 0.3% of the service industry in terms of value-added and employment. This is a far cry from the world average. Non-governmental public welfare organizations’ difficulty in getting access to resources is an important reason. But the most important reason has to do with the difficulty of registering non-governmental organizations.
非公募基金会可以自主地确定自己的公益项目和资助方向，慈善资源可以流向政府系统之外的民间公益服务领域，成为民间公益服务机构（俗称草根组织）的重要资源提供者，再造公益产业链，这将从根本上改善民间公益发展的生态环境。
在2008年汶川地震发生后，非公募基金会反映迅速，成为草根组织迅速投入抗震救灾和灾后重建的重要资金提供者。如我所在的南都基金会，就资助了60多家草根组织的灾后重建项目。
Non-public fundraising foundations have the autonomy to determine the direction of their public welfare projects and funding. Charitable resources can flow towards public service areas outside of the government system, and turn into an important resource provider for non-governmental public welfare organizations (commonly known as grass-roots organizations). This will fundamentally improve the environment for the development of non-governmental public welfare.
After the Wenchuan earthquake in 2008, non-public fundraising foundations rapid response became a major provider of funds for grassroots organizations’ rapid involvement in the earthquake relief and reconstruction. For example, Nandu Foundation which I work for, has funded more than 60 grass-roots organizations engaged in post-disaster reconstruction projects.
三、非公募基金会突破了民间组织独立性和治理难的制度瓶颈
非公募基金会出现之前，从政府部门脱胎出来的公募基金会因其与政府之间存在千丝万缕的联系，难以保持其自身的独立性。非公募基金会与政府之间没有财产上的纠葛，也无人事上的交错，具有独立于政府的人格，为确保其独立性并实现以理事会为决策核心的有效治理提供了制度保证。
3. Non-public fundraising foundations have broken the systemic bottleneck restricting the independence and governance of civil society organizations.
Before the advent of non-public fundraising foundations, public fundraising foundations that emerged out of government departments, had a hard time asserting their own independence because of the inextricable link that exists the government and these foundations. Nonpublic fundraising foundations do not share property or personnel with the government and thus are more independent of government.
四、 非公募基金会突破了民间组织人才严重匮乏的瓶颈
以往中国非营利组织从业者主要是两部分人，一是原来的政府工作人员或退休干部，二是追求社会理想的知识分子，缺少有经营管理能力的专业人才。非公募基金会使大量熟谙现代公司治理和市场管理专业的人士投身公益领域，同时，非公募基金会可以以接近于市场的薪酬待遇吸引年轻专业人才，对改善非营利部门的人才结构产生了重大影响。
非公募基金会的成长对于中国公民社会的培育和发展具有举足轻重的影响。在大发展中要避免大混乱，这是业内同仁的共识。为此，2009年中国非公募基金会发展论坛发布了《非公募基金会自律宣言》。今年1月，30多家非公募基金会和公募基金会联合发起创建中国基金会中心，让基金会自律从信息透明开始，通过提高基金会的透明度、公信力，通过提升基金会行业的自律、自治、自我规范和自我服务的能力，来引领中国整个民间公益行业的健康发展。
4. Nonpublic fundraising foundations are breaking through the bottleneck of lack of capable practitioners in civil society organizations.
In the past, practitioners in China’s non-profit organizations were mainly of two kinds. One was former government staff or retired cadres. The second was intellectuals in the the pursuit of social ideals. What was lacking was professionals with management capacity. Nonpublic fundraising foundations have brought into the public arena a large number of such professionals who are well versed in modern corporate governance and market regulation. At the same time, non-public fundraising foundations can offer salaries that come closer to compensation packages that attract young professionals, and can have a major impact on improving the personnel structure of the non-profit sector.
The growth of nonpublic fundraising foundations has had a significant impact in fostering China’s civil society. In the large-scale development to avoid chaos, this is the consensus of colleagues in the industry. To this end, in 2009, China's non-public fundraising foundations Development Forum issued the "Declaration of self-discipline for non-public fundraising foundation." In January of this year, more than 30 non-public fundraising foundations and public fundraising foundations joined together to found the China Foundation Center, to encourage foundations to start disciplining themselves through information transparency, thereby improving the transparency and credibility of foundations, and improving the discipline, governance, standardization and service of foundations, so that we can look forward to the healthy development of China’s nongovernmental public welfare sector.
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