A popular statistic floating around in the charity world is that China has only donated 0.05% of its GDP to charity organizations in 2004.
Yet, evidence shows that the Chinese do value charity - a few examples:
1. In 2007, Shandong province made May 18 "wo yao bang" day ("I will help" in Chinese) to encourage richer people to help the poor. Originally, May 18 was a red letter day because its pronunciation in Chinese sounds very much like "I'll make a fortune."
2. Even a New York Times article from 1876 praises the Chinese for "a vast deal of charitable work" being done, talking specifically about asylums for orphans and the poor.
3. After the earthquake, multi-national corporations that did not give their share to the victims were mercilessly criticized by netizens. The criticism seemed to work, as companies like Coca-cola significantly upped their donations (Coca-cola went from 5 million RMB to 17 million RMB). More information can be found in EastSouthWestNorth here.
The government did not set up its first official charity website until 2004, but scholars are noticing that natural disasters are provoking the Chinese to donate. The Chinese Red Cross received £30m for the Boxing Day tsunami in 2005 and Katrina and the Pakistan earthquake have also received considerable amounts.
There is a trend of the Chinese expecting the richer to give back, but many of the "new rich" still haven't started feeling the obligation. Mencius once said, " take care of yourself if you are poor, and help others if you are rich."
A case study of charity giving in China can be found here.
