The Beijing 2008 Olympic summer games kick off on August 8. Never before has a sporting event been so charged with geo-political meaning: China, the biggest country in the world (by population, with over 1.3 billion inhabitants) opens itself to the world for the first time. These summer Olympics represent the consecration of a country that in just a few decades has seen a transformation so radical that cannot be equalled by any other in history. A transformation that proves how much can be accomplished by man’s intelligence and determination. A transformation that goes beyond the manmade landscape of skyscrapers built to outplay even Manhattan and that is demonstrated by an increased quality of life: the literacy rate today is around 90% and life expectancy around 73. There is, obviously, more to the picture. Take, for example the Gdp that lies around 2 dollars, proving that wealth distribution has not been the Chinese machine’s greatest priority. Or the many controversies over human and individual rights exploded, thanks to the high profile campaigns of human rights organisations in the run up to the games.
As the Olympic spotlight hits China we have taken the opportunity to take a closer look at the civil society of the People’s Republic. This is what we have found.
Who’s Who: China’s new faces
Hu Jintao: President of the Republic: At 66 he is the fourth president of the People’s Republic of China, general secretary of the Communist Party, head of the armed forces and general secretary of the Politburo’s Permanent Committee, the country’s most important decision making body. He has been accused of always promoting the use of force to quell protests, from Tiananmen Square to the recent deaths in Tibet. Since 2003, when he was elected, he has dedicated himself to strengthening the ideology of his nomenclature and to controlling the media and silencing dissidents. His is an authoritarian populism, where importance is given to the adherence of all to the Party directives.
Wen Jiabao, Prime Minister: 66 years old, he is prime minister of the State Council and since 2003 is third most important member of the Politburo. Since the 1980’s he has held high ranking positions in the Party and is remembered for having accompanied General Zhao Ziyang to meet protesters at Tiananmen Square in 1989. The following day he was arrested. Wen has called China a “developing country” that will maintain socialism until it is mature enough for democracy. He was the first politician to visit Sichuan after the recent earthquake and because of this, and his affable character, is well thought of. But, he refused any dialogue with the Dalai Lama until he renounces to the independence of Tibet.
Xi Jingping, Vice President: 58, he is China’s vice president and sixth in the list of most important Politburo members. He is very close to ex president Jiang Zemin, who is known for his ultra-liberal views.
Philanthropy: China’s great givers
N. 1: Yu Pengnian, 420 million dollars donated to charity. Fields? Health & higher education. Company: Pengnian Industries.
N. 2: Zhu Mengyi, 158 million donated to charity. Fields? Health & education. Company: Hopson Development.
N. 3: Huang Rulun, 120 million dollars donated to charity. Fields? Education, poverty & emergencies. Company: Jinyuan Group.
N. 4: Niu Gensheng, 90 million dollars donated to charity. Field? Social welfare. Company: Mengniu Group.
N.6 (1st woman): Yang Lan, donated 45 million dollars to charity.Fields:? Education, culture & sport. Company: Sunmedia Investments.
NGO Fact file
According to the China Social Statistical Yearbook 2007, there are 354,390 NGOs in China. 191,946 of these are social organisations, 161,303 are non commercial enterprises and 1,114 are foundations. There are about 6 thousand international NGOs active in China although many are registered as private companies so that they can have bank accounts and Chinese employees. In 1988 there were only 4,446 NGOs in China.
By western standards, many Chinese NGOs are overly dependent on the government. These are the GONGOs, or government organised NGOs, that in China are given the greatest credibility. Admitting the credibility of autonomous NGOs would be like admitting that the state was not able to carry out its functions. The term “non governmental” translates as fei zhengfu zuzhi, fei being both “non” and “against”, so it is preferable to use the term “social utility organisations” (shehui zuzhi).
Fast green facts
Over 1 billion 300 million people inhabit the world’s third largest country. This is China’s most notorious record, along with that for low air quality: according to the World Bank, 16 of the world’s top 20 most polluted cities are in China.
In 2004 China produced more than 850 million tonnes of cement. Every day, 3 thousand cars are matriculated in Beijing. Agriculture takes up 14.5% of the country’s surface and 17.5% of its surface is covered by forest.
Last year WWF China, together with the Hsbc bank, launched an environmental campaign aimed at increasing the nation’s energy efficiency (every week China builds a new coal fired electricity plant). Together with the government, WWF has created 50 panda sanctuaries.
One child policy
In over thirty years, China’s one child policy, started by Mao Zedong, has avoided the birth of more than 300 million children. The price of the fine for not obeying the city wide one child policy? 50 thousand yuan, equal to 6.2 thousand dollars. In the countryside two children are allowed. In 20 years 40 million abortions have stopped the birth of female children.
By 2010 China’s population will reach 1.37 billion, but it is estimated that there are half a billion Chinese who are not registered. There are 380 million under 18 year olds in China today.
Social Enterprise made in China
Although the social enterprise concept in China is relatively new and lacks a legal framework to promote its development, bottom up projects are tackling some of China’s most urgent social issues. Like Hua Dan, a Beijing based organisation that uses theatre as a means to train and educate vulnerable groups, like migrant women fleeing the countryside to look for work despite their lack of employable skills. Or the Rural China Education Foundation, that focus on improving the quality of community teaching.
But best practices alone are not enough to stimulate social enterprise growth, which is why two Harvard Kennedy School masters students, Marie So and Carol Chyau, have launched Ventures in Development, a social enterprise with the goal of identifying, incubating and developing enterprises with specific social benefits across China.
Read more about China’s social enterprises: http://blog.vita.it/robinhoodies/
