Although their collective numbers are impressive, NGOs, or non-governmental organizations, have largely remained on the periphery of society until very recently.

Compared to a decade ago, when the first NGOs were founded in China, their collective identity is now increasingly becoming a buzzword, with their influence felt more and more across this country.

They have been engaged in many activities -- ranging from poverty relief and environment protection to rural education -- though these issues seldom hit newspaper headlines.

But it was not until 2003 when resistance to the Nujiang River Dams project gave us a big opportunity to realize how NGOs help China.

The Nujiang River Dams project, proposed by local government to stimulate the economy, is a plan to build 13 hydroelectric dams along the river, through Southwest China's Yunnan Province.

Critics say the dams will cause enormous ecological damage to this pristine river, dubbed the last ecologically balanced river in China.

The Nujiang River basin boasts many rare and endangered plants and animals, which environmentalists say will be destroyed if the dams are built as planned.

The proposed dam project will also relocate at least 50,000 people from areas that will be submerged.

The perceived environmental and ecological damage has raised serious concerns among different organizations, including environmental NGOs.

Even before the plan was made public, NGOs had already embarked on a campaign to mobilize public support to halt the controversial project because of the possible adverse environmental effects.

The widespread public outcry finally caught the attention of the authorities and in February 2004 the project was ordered to undergo further and thorough assessments before going ahead again.

It was the first time that NGOs in China changed plans made by a local government.

It is widely regarded as a landmark event for China's environment NGOs and NGOs in general.

"It was an important turning point in that NGOs managed to influence the government's public policy-making process," said Wang Ming, director of Tsinghua University's NGO Research Centre.

The Nujiang River campaign signals that NGOs have finally entered the public consciousness and have an increasing role.

However, the growth of NGOs and their growing clout in recent years is still far from ideal, experts and officials said.

"In a transitional society like China, there is always room for the growth of NGOs," Wang said.

As the government gradually adjusts its role, with the ultimate goal of building a civil and prosperous society with an efficient administration, NGOs can help take care of many social undertakings.

"As the government's role becomes more well-defined, NGOs will assume more and more of the social role formerly played by the government," Wang said.

Besides old social problems such as poverty, newer issues such as the migrating population and AIDs also need the involvement of NGOs.

"China needs more grass-roots NGOs to tackle emerging social problems which tend to surface when a society is in transition," said Li Zhen, professor at Shaanxi Normal University.

However, some impediments must be overcome if the NGOs are to be developed to their potential.

According to the latest statistics from the Ministry of Civil Affairs, the number of officially registered NGOs in China is 283,000.

That figure, if unregistered ones are included, could jump to as many as 3 million, experts estimate.

The huge discrepancy vividly illustrates the major hurdles facing the development of NGOs in the country.

Under the current law, besides being registered with the civil affairs department, any NGO, if it is to be officially recognized, must also register with the relevant industry watchdog.

For example, an environment NGO must both register with the environment protection agency and the civil affairs body in order to be officially recognized and operate legally.

Such requirements have meant many NGOs cannot be officially endorsed because they cannot find an industry regulator whose administrative power covers their activities.

"Many grassroots NGOs, especially community or countryside-based ones, fail to be formally registered because of this reason," admitted Yang Yue, deputy director of the Non-government Organization Administration Bureau under the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

Although many local governments usually turn a blind eye to unregistered grass-roots non-political NGOs, the lack of a legal identity has often led to conflict with the government, according to Deng Guosheng, a researcher at Tsinghua University's NGO Research Centre.

The existence of a great number of unregistered NGOs has become a breeding ground for many illegal organizations, which can result in many social problems, said Wang, the director of the NGO Research Centre at Tsinghua University.

"The current system, which leaves many NGOs out, has seriously hampered the government's supervision of them," Wang said.

Such an incomplete legal framework is to be amended soon, according to Yang Yue, the civil affairs ministry official.

"The three laws currently regulating NGOs are to be revised soon; one is already done, another will be amended this year, and the revision of another is planned for next year," Yang said.

Although the legal framework is set to improve, NGOs should also improve themselves.

Presently, many NGOs have their own defects that hamper their development. For example, a lack of professionalism and credibility is a major problem.

"The lack of professional ability means the government has second thoughts when deciding whether to transfer part of its role to NGOs," said Deng, the Tsinghua researcher.

"Even when the government wants to entrust some projects to NGOs, the NGOs may be unable to handle them because of the lack of professional ability," Wang said.

Worse than that, many NGOs are engaged in illicit profit-making ventures, a practice that has seriously tarnished their collective identity and image.

"Such acts have given way to public skepticism about their credibility," said Deng.

(China Daily April 22, 2005)