The national umbrella organisation of Chinese NGOs, the China Association for NGO Cooperation (CANGO) is the strategic partner of HBF China. In cooperation with CANGO, the Heinrich Boell Foundation tries to enhance an understanding of whether and how the civil society contributes to processes of social, political and economic reform and continuity.

In this context we also work with Chinese government and party organisations to reflect on the challenges and opportunities of political reform and trends in China and Germany.

While the Chinese government still needs to develop the regulatory framework that allows these organisations to operate in a favourable environment, the organisations themselves need to improve their accountability and credibility, in order to draw support from donors and supporters in China.

The project, under the coordination of  the School of Public Policy and Management at  Tsinghua University, explores the potential of developing self-regulatory and evaluation systems for NGO’s in China. A study and analysis of existing systems of self evaluation and monitoring agencies for NGO’s in Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands and the Philippines with a focus on fundraising organizations has been carried out. In several workshops NGO’s and NGO experts have discussed findings and possible ways forward for Chinese NGO’s. The results and the final report will be shared with experts and NGO’s, as well as with government departments in charge of NGO development.

The policies which regulate the internal management of social organisations, date from 1998 and  are now being revised and made more specific in order to adapt them to the rapid development of civil society in China. HBF supports China’s Ministry of Civil Affairs in a research and consultations process to develop the by-laws for the internal regulation and registration of social organisations. This project is carried out as part of the official rule-of-law dialogue between China and Germany.

China’s Administration Bureau of NGO’s under the Ministry of Civil Affairs (MoCA), together with experts, scholars and representatives from the civil society, reviews and  analyses the current implementation of laws for the internal management structure of China’s social organizations.

Based on the accomplishment of above mentioned research, an international consultation process will  be carried out, relying on  experiences from Germany in the field of social organisations’  internal management structure. The research team will formulate policy recommendations for the revision of the NGO law in this area.

In China, both NGOs and the media are undergoing a process of maturing. Especially for local gross rootgrassroots NGO’s there is a lack of know how and facilities for how to work together with the media.

Against this background, in 2006, Green Earth Volunteers took the lead to complete an investigative report on the status of cooperation between the media and NGO’s in China. At the completion of the project a seminar on the same topic was organized in Beijing. In order to maximize the impact of this study, a handbook will be written and published in order to guide grassroots NGO’s in their efforts to ally with the media to achieve their project and organizational objectives.

The project will interview Media representatives, NGO representatives and scholars in related fields in order to clarify the needs of the target groups. During the process of writing the handbooks, the China Association for NGO Cooperation (CANGO), as a project partner, will support active exchanges between the authors and different stakeholders through organizing regular workshops and seminars. For the maximum circulation of the handbook, a plattformplatform should be developed to ensure an easy access to the handbook for the NGO’s and other target groups across the country and to ensure timely updates of the contents.

Media Consumption and Media Roles among Chinese Youth

This research project will investigate the media consumption patterns of Chinese youth and the role of the media in the rapidly changing Chinese society. This project seeks to understand the relationship between China’s dramatic economic growth, the development of a commercial media system that remains relatively controlled by the Chinese government in a global and diversified information age, and the choices offered to Chinese youth for media consumption.

The project focuses on Chinese youth groups (aged 15-25) in three major cities:  Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. A professional survey company will conduct telephone interviews with 900 participants as well as several in-depth interviews in each city. The data gathered from the survey will be analyzed and presented as a report. About 15 leading Chinese and international academics, media professionals and government officials will be invited to participate in the seminar on “Youth Media Consumption and Roles and Social Development in China” in Shanghai in the latter part of 2008. The project will also provide a number of research deliverables including published academic papers in leading Chinese and international journals, and a book through an international publishing house.