China's regulations on the management of NGOs will be amended next year, with overseas organizations receiving the same supervision and guidance as domestic ones.

Sun Weilin, director general of the Bureau of NGO Administration under the Ministry of Civil Affairs, said yesterday at a workshop in Beijing that the revised regulations are being examined by the State Council, and are expected to be published early next year.

A project surveying domestic and overseas NGOs in China, and suggesting regulation amendments and improvements, has been jointly carried out by United Nations Development Program, China International Centre for Economic and Technical Exchanges, Ministry of Civil Affairs and China Centre for Comparative Politics and Economics (CCCPE).

"The overseas NGOs will abide by the same management rules as domestic ones, no matter whether they establish representative offices or just carry out a program in China," said Yang Yue, vice-director general of the Bureau of NGO Administration.

That means the overseas NGOs will come under the same dual management system as domestic ones. The dual management system means NGOs receive supervision and guidance from relevant departments once they pass an examination and register with the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

After China started its reform and opening up, more and more overseas NGOs entered China. Currently, there are more than 200 overseas funds and organizations operating in Beijing alone.

The lack of effective and updated management on these overseas NGOs is problematic, said Yu Keping, vice-director of CCCPE, adding that sometimes they have not even been examined or registered.

"As for domestic grassroots NGOs in urban communities and rural areas, they can be put on file in local departments of civil affairs if they cannot reach registration requirements," Yang said.

"Registration can serve as a legal umbrella for their activities," she said

"In the revised version, the government financial support to NGOs will be mentioned, together with some preferential policies on taxation," Yang said.

The government will set up an assessment system on the operation of NGOs. Punishment for NGOs violating laws and regulations will be strengthened, and competition will be encouraged.

"Under the current regulations, the entrance system has a high threshold," Yang said. "But an exit system is absent. We should set up an exit system to eliminate non-performing NGOs according to the market rules."

According to statistics released in March this year, there are nearly 280,000 NGOs of different types in China, excluding those not registered.

(China Daily December 15, 2005)