Guangzhou bans government staff from NGOs

Guangzhou plans to ban its civil servants from joining non-government organizations (NGOs) in an effort to ensure the organizations act independently, the Guangzhou Daily reported Sunday.

The draft, which aims to reform NGOs, was posted on the website of the Legislative Affairs Office of the Guangzhou city government for one month of public consultation.

It stipulates that civil servants are not allowed to join any NGO related to business, charity, social services or community services. Those who want to join after retirement should receive government approval.

In China, an NGO can only be registered as a legal social organization when a government department, which operates in similar areas, agrees to act as its supervisor. Consequently, in order to better administer an NGO, officials will often become leaders or managers in the organization, The Beijing News reported earlier.

Many cities have adopted similar measures to reduce government supervision and red tape by forbidding government officials from joining NGOs.

Beijing restricted civil servants from doing part-time job in NGOs in February 2011.

The Anhui provincial government put forward similar bans in May to solve the problem of some NGOs become too government-oriented, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

Government administration over NGOs is decreasing and 70 percent of the social organizations in Beijing do not have government background or any civil servants, said Cheng Liyan, director of charity office in the Beijing Bureau of Civil Affairs, reported china.org in April 2012.