Wang Zhenyao, Director-General of the Disaster and Relief Department of the Civil Affairs Ministry says that China hopes to receive 50 billion yuan or approximately US6.25 billion US dollars in donations to charitable funds every year for the next five years.

Wang Zhenyao said that the civil affairs sector received 3.1 billion yuan in 2005, and that 2.9 billion yuan has been donated to other charity organizations in China. In total, Chinese charities collected just under 10 billion from donations last year.

The development of charity depends heavily on donations from the general public. Donations can be made in the form of goods, funds and time, such as volunteering and doing social work. In China people donate far less to charity than their counterparts in developed countries, says Wang Zhenyao.

By People's Daily Online