A New Underestimated Driver: Social Innovations through the Philanthropic Sector in China

Abstract

The 2008 Wenchuan Earthquake preluded to China’s new era of social innovations, which, under the radar, has been robustly driven by philanthropy since 2009. This new undervalued driver not only led to a series of key legal reforms to empower and guide philanthropy in China, especially the promulgation of the first-ever Philanthropy Law in 2016, but also triggered profound adjustments and innovations among all sectors in China: the structural realignment in the government, the practice of corporate social responsibility, social enterprise and impact investing in business, and the adoption of crowdfunding, charitable trust and public interest capitalism in philanthropic fundraising. Other innovations have been: the promotion of charitable prizes, the adoption of online technologies, increased number of volunteers, and new international cooperation in philanthropic projects. Through philanthropy, social innovations have transformed China dramatically and inadvertently until the breakout of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020. The effort to address the pandemic has demonstrated all the potential, capacities, and achievements developed within the philanthropy sector during a decade of quiet but rapid development.