State Regulation of Nonprofit Organizations in the People’s Republic of China from 2016 to 2023: A Systematic Review

• In Event: Civil society regulations

Abstract

In the past decade, there has been a notable growth in academic interest focusing on the state regulation of the nonprofit sector in the People’s Republic of China (PRC). Researchers such as Breen, Dunn, and Sidel (2017; 2019) have interpreted "statutory regulation" as a form of regulatory intervention designed and driven by the government rather than the nonprofit sector. One driver of scholarship growth has been the debates surrounding the rapid development of nonprofit organizations and nonprofit activities in the PRC, a country historically and widely viewed as authoritarian. Another factor has been the promulgation and enforcement of the 2016 Charity Law, which is the first omnibus philanthropy legislation in the history of philanthropy in the PRC.

While extensive research endeavors have delved into overarching framework and trends, legislation, and specific aspects of the regulation, there is a clear fragmentation in this field of study, as evidenced by the dispersal of research across numerous journals, each with its distinct focus. To address this gap, this paper proposes a systematic review of English literature published between 2016 and 2023. The intent is to extract and synthesize key insights about the features, objectives, impacts, changes, and determinants underpinning the PRC's state regulation of its burgeoning nonprofit sector. The pivotal year, 2016, is selected given its significance marked by the promulgation of the Charity Law.

The methodology of this review will be rooted in the PRISMA approach, which has demonstrated its efficacy in nonprofit studies. In total 100 peer-reviewed journal articles, sourced from Scopus and filtered based on predefined eligibility criteria, form the dataset of this research. These articles will be subjected to both quantitative and qualitative analyses. The former will explore fundamental descriptive attributes like the types of journals, publication chronology, and dominant research methodologies. Concurrently, the qualitative dimension will systematically code and categorize the literature to discern the state regulation's principal features, objectives, consequences, evolutions, and influential determinants.

While analyzing the data collected, we hope to utilize the conference as a dissemination tool. We hope our findings contribute to the field’s understanding of authoritarian regulatory bodies. From what we know about the sector's growth since the late 2000s, we expect to see major developments in the law, as well as variation in the level of restriction among the types of organizations. The contribution of this systematic review will be multifold. Primarily, it will help construct a comprehensive understanding of state regulation of nonprofit organizations in the PRC. It will also help uncover the challenges and opportunities faced by nonprofit organizations within the unique regulatory context of the PRC. Additionally, critically assessing the theoretical and methodological rigor of current explorations will expose academic gaps and controversies, paving the way for future research and contributing to a more insightful understanding of civil society in the world's most populous country.

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Authors

• Huitan Xu, Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy

• Payton Alaina Goodman, Indiana University