18 Jul 2012

China Charity Fair 2012 Report-1

Posted in Chinese Philanthropy By Helen Li On July 18, 2012

China Charity Fair 2012 closed on Saturday, July 14, in Shenzhen, a coastal city in GuangDong province. How did the grand fair go? After diving into the sea of media, I have come to the general impression: government was thrilled; volunteers were lifted; academia were overall satisfied; corporations were both confusing and confused; and NGOs had mixed emotions.

Among the 544 exhibitors, there were 260 nonprofit organizations, 142 corporations, 104 foundations, 26 provincial delegation groups, and 12 supporting organizations in research, media etc. Visits to the 3-day event counted to 150,000. Considering the first two days of the fair fell on weekdays, I would say it was a well-attended fair.

I’ll break into sections covering reactions/reflections from different fields.

Government was thrilled

At the closing meeting of the expo, Mr. Dou YuPei, deputy minister of Ministry of Civil Affairs and vice chairman of the organizing committee of the fair, called the fair a smashing success. He attributed the success to 7 highlights: good theme, appropriate positioning, convenient location, high standard, grand scale, innovative format, and good organization.

The organizing committee, mostly comprised of government agencies, admitted the fair went far beyond their expectations. As the first attempt to test the concept of “having the government set up the stage and let the society run the show” on a large scale, the fair boasted some glowing numbers: 10 summit conferences, 41 salon meetings, 18 on-site experiential programs, and 231 nonprofit projects that have found tentative partners, although the last number was questioned by some people in the NGO field.

Liu RunHua, deputy director of GuangDong Province Social Work Committee and advocate of social innovation in GuangDong, posted a message on his WeiBo after the fair: “Honestly speaking, this unprecedented charity fair has been a huge success—a show case of charity power on a national level; topics discussed at the seminars and solons are right on target and should provide guidance for the future; interactions among various charity organizations are strong, and are especially helpful to small NGOs.”

As the deputy mayor of the host city, Zhang Wen considered the fair as a great way to strengthen the fabrics of this immigrants city, to introduce charity to people’s daily life, and to encourage social innovation in this young and vibrant city.

Volunteers were lifted

The organization committee of the fair was supported by 360 volunteers, and many more were working in different booths. Those who have expressed on social media seem to have had unanimously great experiences during the fair. Here are a few quotes from Weibo:

深圳彩虹同心：”The two days as a volunteer at the charity fair is going to be one of the most memorable experiences in my life, and will be a start of my volunteering journey. Thank you for helping me determined to do something I have always wanted to but haven’t had a chance to yet.”

gaojin5669: “DuDu volunteered at the first Charity Fair, working with a bunch of overseas students. They have started some organized charity efforts, and the team was nice and efficient. DuDu was inspired in many ways. When hearing her talk about charity, I know she has moved from seeking some resume-building experience to developing solid consciousness on charity. (This realization) makes me believe the future of Chinese charity lies in a civil society, and the post-90 generation (those who were born after 1990 ) will play a leadership role before too long.”

This picture on the right is one of my favorites from the fair. The one who posted the picture, 桌朗51givie, observed most volunteers at the fair were young and proposed to engage more senior volunteers, who have both skills and time.