The new department would manage the welfare lottery, charitable activities, and donations and welfare projects for the elderly, disabled and children. It will draft rules on volunteers' work and develop a nationwide volunteer network.

Wang said his top priority is formulating more transparent and systemized methods, and mapping out donation evaluation standards for monthly and annual appraisals.

"If we have a clear understanding of every process from fundraising to donation use it will cut down on the time used for auditing and monitoring, and leave less room for corruption," he said.

In a talk given to local officials on the development of community-based charitable services, he encouraged them to cultivate grassroots charity organizations.

"They could be small organizations with only a few members encouraging people to help and support their neighbors," he said.

The director had addressed the need to solve the shortage of professionals in the field.

Only 18,000 people work for charitable foundations in China, compared to 1.2 million people in the United States.

"China has enough love and caring but does not have enough well-developed channels for people to express and show their love and caring," he said.

When he visited quake-affected areas on May 15, the director saw how thousands people from all over the country came forth to save lives and rebuild homes.

"In them, I see the future of the country's charity work."

He pointed out the size of the country's population is a boon, rather than a bane, to the country's philanthropic potential.

"Any major difficulty becomes minor when divided by 1.3 billion people. And any small donation becomes a tremendous contribution when multiplied by that number."

(China Daily October 6, 2008)