e-magazine
Cutting Back on Red Tape
The Chinese Government places more power in the hands of the market and enterprises
Current Issue
· Table of Contents
· Editor's Desk
· Previous Issues
· Subscribe to Mag
Subscribe Now >>
Expert's View
World
Nation
Business
Finance
Market Watch
Legal-Ease
North American Report
Forum
Government Documents
Expat's Eye
Health
Science/Technology
Lifestyle
Books
Movies
Backgrounders
Special
Photo Gallery
Blogs
Reader's Service
Learning with
'Beijing Review'
E-mail us
RSS Feeds
PDF Edition
Web-magazine
Reader's Letters
Make Beijing Review your homepage
Hot Links

cheap eyeglasses
Market Avenue
eBeijing

Nation
Print Edition> Nation
UPDATED: June 8, 2013 NO. 24 JUNE 13, 2013
'People Power' Key to Charity
Jet Li's One Foundation outperforms Red Cross Society of China in raising funds for earthquake relief
By Zeng Wenhui
Share

NEW START: Jet Li (first left) and guests at the ceremony unveil One Foundation in Shenzhen City, Guangdong Province, on January 11, 2011 (WANG HAOMING)

Jet Li, known in China as Li Lianjie, is relieved to see the effect of the charity model he has advocated, also to the relief of more than 2.3 million people in southwest China affected by a recent earthquake.

On May 7, Li revealed that his One Foundation had received more than 300 million yuan ($49 million) in donated cash and supplies since a 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck Lushan County in Sichuan Province on April 20.

What touched Li most is not the impressive amount of donations, but the number of people who donated to One Foundation: 2.97 million.

"The number of donors is what matters most to One Foundation," Li said.

Li founded the charity in 2007, naming it One Foundation as he believes that if every person donates at least 1 yuan ($0.16) every month, the money pooled together will make a difference.

In the nearly 3 million earthquake donors, Li said that he saw the "power of the people," for their number indicates how many citizens are willing to shoulder social responsibility. He said that it also proves the viability and sustainability of his charity model.

Nearly two thirds of total individual donors participated via e-commerce platform Taobao.com. Under partnership between One Foundation and Taobao.com, for every yuan of goods or services traded at Taobao.com, 0.1 yuan ($0.02) was donated to One Foundation.

The donations raised for disaster relief will be exclusively used for that purpose, Li said, adding that funds should first be spent on emergency humanitarian assistance, then on building temporary settlements and post-quake reconstruction, which is expected to be completed in three to four years.

Of all the donations made to One Foundation, 52 percent came from enterprises and 48 percent were from individuals. The foundation said that the funds spent on emergency relief and temporary resettlements were mostly donated by individuals, whereas donations from enterprises will be invested in disaster mitigation and post-disaster reconstruction.

Donations are used in this way because individual donors are emotional about emergency assistance whereas entrepreneurs are used to rational long-term strategic thinking, according to Li.

Transparency in fund usage is crucial to One Foundation, Li said. Nonetheless, he admitted that so far it is not yet possible for any foundation to publish the destination of every yuan of donation. Now One Foundation can only specify the respective percentages used in emergency humanitarian assistance, establishment of temporary settlements and post-quake reconstruction.

One Foundation dispatched disaster relief teams to Sichuan soon after the earthquake, and some are still at work there.

As to post-quake reconstruction, Li said that he and his colleagues would draw upon related experiences after the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake in Sichuan and the 2010 Yushu earthquake in Qinghai Province, so as to avoid mistakes.

"We have invited many experts specializing in post-quake reconstruction to plan more rationally," Li said. Experts will advise on how to build new buildings that fit the local environment and culture.

In addition, Li also believes that in terms of post-quake construction, civic organizations should do what the government has not done, and different organizations should share information so as not to waste efforts by duplicating or overlapping.

1   2   Next  



 
Top Story
-Xi-Obama Summit: Fostering Cooperation and Dialogue
-Special Reports: Xi Visits Americas
-Special Coverage: China-U.S. Cooperation Bears New Fruit
-Chengdu Tops in World Cuisine
-Special Coverage: Building the West Anew
Related Stories
-A New Dawn for NGOs
-Between Charity and Business
 
Most Popular
在线翻译
About BEIJINGREVIEW | About beijingreview.com | Rss Feeds | Contact us | Advertising | Subscribe & Service | Make Beijing Review your homepage
Copyright Beijing Review All right reserved