The editorial in this issue argues that the “birth control riots” in Guangxi underline the need for improved implementation of family planning rules which, despite the pain they have caused, have also played a key role in China’s social and economic transformation.

A feature article looks at the proliferation of gay support groups in China’s northeast and asks whether this a civil society success story or an opportunistic response to the influx of international funds.

A report on China’s new transparency rules for government notes that some progressive localities are ahead of the central government on this issue, and that national rules remain ambiguous as to how much the public has a right to know.

A review essay discusses some of the growing China-in-Africa literature.

Shorter items report on developments in EU-UNDP cooperation on civil society and biodiversity programs, on the rapid growth of a “Give2Asia” funding program, and on a WWF study that suggests China is not responsible for much of its “global footprint.”

The editorial in this edition argues that Chinese “Government-Organised NGOs” are unlikely to wither away any time soon—but that some need to wake up and clean up their act.

An accompanying feature article looks at the plans of governments and multinational corporations to boost China’s non-profit sector through a variety of “platforms” designed to increase visibility, but also transparency and accountability.

Rather than treating child trafficking as an isolated issue, the government of China should respond by creating comprehensive and integrated child protection mechanisms, Save the Children’s Kate Wedgwood, He Ye (何叶) and Sun Tiezheng (孙铁铮) argue in an article excerpted from a recent presentation to the Foreign Correspondents Club in Beijing.

China’s Ministry of Civil Affairs is campaigning to promote charitable giving, while also hoping to encourage higher standards of non-profit performance and accountability. Meanwhile, reports Chang Tianle (常天乐), multinational corporations and management consultants are also hoping to bring business models—or, at least, a more businesslike approach—to the non-profit sector.

Rather than treating child trafficking as an isolated issue, the government of China should respond by creating comprehensive and integrated child protection mechanisms, Save the Children’s Kate Wedgwood, He Ye (何叶) and Sun Tiezheng (孙铁铮) argue in the following excerpts from a recent presentation to the Foreign Correspondents Club in Beijing.

Our February and March issue mainly concerns about rural situation in China. Editorial "Show Some Respect Amnesty" focus on rural migrants in China cities; "Capitalist Fillip for China's New Socialist Countryside" was written about rural funance; "Getting Together Again" pay attention to rural co-operation; First person "My Fortune Started with Two Rabbits and a Sickle" shows a story of a farmer, whose journey from poverty to ralative prosperity in rural Sichuan, and how this led him to become a social entrepreneur. There are also some short news in this issue.

At the end of 2005, the People’s Bank of China (China’s central bank) launched a pilot initiative to create new, privately invested lending institutions in some of China’s poorest areas. A year later, the China Banking Regulatory Commission announced measures to stimulate new “village banks” and financial cooperatives, and on the last day of 2006 it also licensed the Post Office Savings Bank to enter the rural credit market. Rural finance experts have welcomed the new measures. But, Nick Young reports, many earlier efforts to encourage rural credit have faltered and it may be some time yet before financial services trickle down to the poor.

In January the Ministry of Agriculture launched a month-long drive to inform farmers and local officials about the new Law on Farmer Professional Cooperatives (农民专业合作社法). Given China’s long and varied experience of things called “cooperative” it might take longer than a month to get the message through, Chang Tianle (常天乐) concluded after visiting Anhui, Sichuan and Yunnan.

Rural migrants to Chinese cities are having a very tough time, according to a report issued in March by Amnesty International. True enough. But hardly news to anyone at all familiar with the subject. Any well-informed broadsheet newspaper reader in the West knows this already, and so of course do all Chinese people who have been out of their village. So what was the point?

Although average rural incomes have failed to keep pace with rising urban incomes, some people in China’s countryside are managing to thrive. Here, Ren Xuping (任旭平) tells Chang Tianle (常天乐) about his journey from poverty to relative prosperity in rural Sichuan, and how this led him to become a social entrepreneur.

This monograph is based on a presentation by Nick Young to a Wilton Park Conference in Steyning, UK, in October 2006.

Section I (pp 3-11) describes the range and nature of growing inequalities in China, citing indicators that are largely drawn from Chinese government sources. (This section was published in our December 2005 newsletter)

Section II (pp 11-22) discusses the role of inequality in the economy, also placing this in a historical and global context. It argues that inequality in land and labour markets has been a driver of growth but now constrains change in the nature of that growth.

Section III (pp 22-35) considers the political sustainability of inequality. It sketches emerging class stratification, noting that the wide gap between top and bottom income groups is occupied by a “bulging middle,” comprising roughly half the population, whose incomes are rather low and whose fortunes and attitudes will be critical to future stability. This section concludes that palliative measures and policies the government is now putting in place will, given continued, steady economic growth, probably suffice to avoid widespread unrest. But, this section also argues, incremental political reform to increase administrative accountability will be increasingly necessary to satisfy rising social expectations.