A Discussion On Chinese Road Of Ngos

This book reflects the author’s views on NGO development in China and includes recent papers, reviews, and policy suggestions he has written. This collection introduces the current state of research on NGOs and their development in China to an English-speaking audience, allowing them to understand China’s social reforms, which center on NGOs. ​

Based on documentary materials including interviews with key players in China, this book charts the development of non-governmental and non-profit organizations in China from the late 1970s to the present day. It recounts how in the aftermath of the 1978 reforms that created a market economy and diversified interests and social life, new institutions and organizations outside of the state system increased dramatically in number, size and influence. These organizations, which barely existed before the reforms began in the late 1970s, carry out many social, economic and cultural tasks neglected by the government. Qiusha Ma examines two key questions crucial to understanding the development of NGOs in China: First, is it possible under China’s one-party state for non-governmental organizations to thrive and play important economic, social and political functions? And secondly, are NGOs facilitating the formation of a civil society in China?

In recent years, China has not only expanded its economic presence worldwide but has also actively pursued initiatives to enhance its global leadership, promote international cooperation, and provide humanitarian aid. Concurrently, Chinese NGOs have played an increasingly active role in China's international diplomacy, initiating projects overseas and establishing offices in Belt and Road Initiative countries. This book delves into this trend by examining China's global strategy, the role of NGOs, and exploring the perspectives of these organizations themselves on their functions and roles in international politics. It presents a typology of NGOs within China's foreign policy, summarizing the diverse factors that influence their multifaceted involvement. The book reveals the divergence between Chinese and Western understandings of global governance and highlights the significance of the international engagement of Chinese NGOs as a new and noteworthy phenomenon in the fields of international relations and global governance.

This volume presents a comparison of the experiences of NGOs in China and Europe. The chapters on China contain the most comprehensive and up-to-date analysis of various types of NGOs currently active in the country. The contributions on foreign NGOs in China, non-governmental think tanks, public interest legal organizations, labour related NGOs and charity organizations, are the first in English to discuss successful experiences as well as the difficulties they face in the post-Mao era. The European studies draw examples from countries where the experiences of NGOs are at various stages of development. The section on NGOs in Central and Eastern Europe examines the rapid expansion of civil society and their pivotal role in promoting political change and building democracy in a transitional society, as well as the challenges they confront in advancing a strong civil society. Those chapters on NGOs' experiences in Western European countries, especially in the Netherlands and the UK, provide insightful information and examination of the most contentious issues concerning NGOs' accountability, governance and relationship with the government.

As China becomes increasingly integrated into the global system there will be continuing pressure to acknowledge and engage with non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Suffice to say, without a clear understanding of the state’s interaction with NGOs, and vice versa, any political, economic and social analysis of China will be incomplete. This book provides an urgent insight into contemporary state-NGO relations. It brings together the most recent research covering three broad themes, namely the conceptualizations and subsequent functions of NGOs; state-NGO engagement; and NGOs as a mediator between state and society in contemporary China. The book provides a future glimpse into the challenges of state-NGO interactions in China's rapidly developing regions, which will aid NGOs strategic planning in both the short- and long-term. In addition, it allows a measure of predictability in our assessment of Chinese NGOs behaviour, notably when they eventually move their areas of operation from the domestic sphere to an international one. The salient themes, concepts, theories and practice discussed in this book will be of acute interest to students, scholars and practitioners in development studies, public administration, and Chinese and Asian politics. Reza Hasmath is a Lecturer in Chinese Politics at the University of Oxford, UK, and an Associate Professor in Political Science at the University of Alberta, Canada. His research looks at state-society relationships, the labour market experiences of ethnic minorities, and development theories and practices. Jennifer Y.J. Hsu is an Assistant Professor in Political Science at the University of Alberta, Canada. Her recent publications include a co-authored book HIV/AIDS in China: The Economic and Social Determinants (Routledge, 2011), and a co-edited book The Chinese Corporatist State: Adaption, Survival and Resistance (Routledge, 2012).

This Handbook provides a comprehensive overview of local governance in China, and offers original analysis of key factors underpinning trends in this field drawing on the expertise of scholars both inside and outside China. It explores and analyzes the dynamic interaction and collaboration among multiple governmental and non-governmental actors and social sectors with an interest in the conduct of public affairs to address horizontal challenges faced by the local government, society, economy, and civil community and considers key issues such as governance in urban and rural areas, the impact of technology on governance and related issues of education, healthcare, environment and energy. As the result of a global and interdisciplinary collaboration of leading experts, this Handbook offers a cutting-edge insight into the characteristics, challenges and trends of local governance and emphasizes the promotion of good governance and democratic development in China.

The contributions compiled in this issue engage in critical evaluation of China's "New Silk Road initiative" ("Belt and Road Initiative" [BRI]) by focusing on the potential long-term political and economic effects and implications for Sino-EUropean and Sino-African relations. The authors take the launching of the BRI (October 2013) as a starting point for a general, theory-guided qualitative re-evaluation of the basic patterns of Chinese foreign relations and global interactions under the fifth generation of Chinese political leaders. In 2013, the Chinese state president, Xi Jinping, framed BRI as a global connectivity network consisting of a multitude of overland passages and maritime transportation corridors. Xi Jinping's report to the 19th Party Congress (2017) set the BRI as an anchor concept of China's fine-tuned foreign strategy in the 21st century.

This book discusses the penetration, growth and operation of transnational civil society (TCS) in China. It explores impacts on the incremental development of China's political pluralism, mainly through exploring the influences of the leading TCS actors on the country's bottom-up and self-governing activist NGOs that have sprung up spontaneously, in terms of capacities, strategies, leadership and political outlook, as a result of complex interactions between the two sectors.

Despite its recent rapid economic growth, China’s political system has remained resolutely authoritarian. However, an increasingly open economy is creating the infrastructure for an open society, with the rise of a non-state sector in which a private economy, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and different forms of social forces are playing an increasingly powerful role in facilitating political change and promoting good governance. This book examines the development of the non-state sector and NGOs in China since the onset of reform in the late 1970s. It explores the major issues facing the non-state sector in China today, assesses the institutional barriers that are faced by its developing civil society, and compares China’s example with wider international experience. It shows how the ‘get-rich-quick’ ethos of the Deng Xiaoping and Jiang Zemin years, that prioritised rapid GDP growth above all else, has given way under the Jiantao Hu regime to a renewed concern with social reforms, in areas such as welfare, medical care, education, and public transportation. It demonstrates how this change has led to encouragement by the Hu government of the development of the non-state sector as a means to perform regulatory functions and to achieve effective provision of public and social services. It explores the tension between the government’s desire to keep the NGOs as "helping hands’ rather than as autonomous, independent organizations, and their ability to perform these roles successfully.

Demonstrating the crucial importance of local governance in China’s development and international relations, this topical Handbook combines theoretical approaches with novel methodological tools to understand state–society relations at the local level.