Majority Chinese charities don't disclose financial data

A majority of charity organisations in China - 75% - handling billions of yuan in donations, do not disclose their financial information, a media report said today.

A majority of charity organisations in China - 75% - handling billions of yuan in donations, do not disclose their financial information, a media report said Saturday.

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A survey said about 431,100 charities in China received 33.2 billion yuan ($4.9 billion) in 2009.

The China Charity and Donation Information Centre under the ministry of civil affairs, which conducted the survey said only 25% of the charities operate on a comparatively high level of transparency, the China Daily reported on Saturday.

In the survey, even that 25% scored just 1.52 points out of a possible 5 in financial transparency.

The survey looked at 99 charities of different natures and scales across China.

Liu Youping, deputy director of the centre, said: "Public pressure is one deterrent. A cost must be paid for information disclosure, after which the charities face more challenging voices from the public."

He said 42% of charities in the country do not even have methods for disclosing information.

Of the 988 people who took part in the survey, 90% said they were "not satisfied" with the current level of transparency.