China encourages religious groups to do charity work

Edited and Translated by People's Daily Online

China has recently taken a new move to encourage religious groups to do charity work, according to the Notice on Encouraging and Guiding Religious Groups to Perform Charitable Work.

The notice is jointly issued by the State Administration for Religious Affairs (SARA), United Front Work Department of the CPC Central Committee, National Development and Reform Commission, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Civil Affairs, and State Administration of Taxation.

According to the notice, the Chinese government will actively support and encourage religious groups to do charity work, and regulate their charitable activities in accordance with the law.

Based on the principles of "active support, equal treatment, legal management, and mechanism improvement," the government will clarify related policies, further improve the management and coordination mechanism, and strengthen efforts to implement related policies, in order to make religious groups more willing to engage in long-term charitable activities.

Serving society and helping people is a common tradition among various regions in China. In recent years, domestic religious groups have been actively engaged in charitable activities, which have yielded positive social impact. The new move will further inspire religious groups' enthusiasm for charity work, and help create an orderly and well-regulated environment for the healthy development of the charity sector, said a SARA official.