The Ministry of Civil Affairs issued a new guideline Friday to offer suggestions to charity groups on how to disclose donation information in the wake of doubts about the transparency of their operations.

The government hopes the guideline will improve charity organizations' information publicity and protect the public's right to know and supervise such organizations, said a ministry statement.

Charity groups should disclose information about what donations they receive, how they raise money, how they use funds and who their beneficiaries are, according to the guideline.

They should inform the public within 15 working days after receiving a grant and within a month after distributing donations to beneficiaries, the guideline said.

In regards to donations after a serious accident or natural disaster, the information should be made public within 72 hours after donations are received, the guideline said.

Organizations should disclose relevant information every six months or less for charity programs lasting more than six months, enabling donors and the public to follow the program's development, the guideline said.

The guideline is expected to set a standard for charity groups to establish their own information publicity system and for local governments to work out supervision rules on charity groups, the statement said.

In June, the Red Cross Society of China (RCSC), a leading charity group in China, came under fire for a scandal involving a young woman calling herself "Guo Meimei."

The woman, who claimed to work for an institution under the RCSC, posted many photos of her lavish lifestyle on her microblog, prompting speculation that she had embezzled funds from the Red Cross Society.

Although it was later found that she was not an employee of the RCSC, the scandal exposed the problem of the lack of transparency in the operation of charity groups.

Go to Forum >>0 Comment(s)