“I think China has huge potential to build new programs and create new solutions both inside its own borders and in the region if it is able to act on what came out of the National Congress of the Communist Party of China,” Birger Stamperdahl, president & CEO of Give2Asia, said on the sidelines of the Second World Philanthropy Forum in Beijing on Nov.28.

 Birger Stamperdahl, president & CEO of Give2Asia

Give2Asia, a U.S-based nonprofit organization committed to promoting and inspiring philanthropy for Asia, has been active in China since its founding in 2001.

Despite a less visible overseas philanthropic organization active in China,Give2Asia has invested US$77 million in over 800 projects to partners in China, including universities and schools, foundations and government-associated programs, as well as other charitable organizations.

Birger said China will continue to be the country where Give2Asia is most active.

Give2Asia supports a broad range of programs, with 33 percent of its funding in China for education, 25 percent for disaster response, and 17 percent for health care.

After the 2008 Wenchuan Earthquake in Sichuan, Give2Asia raised US$16 million towards disaster relief and recovery, making it the second largest donor in the United States.

He introduced that the very first project in China was to support scholarship programs for Shanghai Jiao Tong University 17 years ago, and the programs still continue through today.

The Second World Philanthropy Forum is held on Nov. 29, 2017 in Beijing.

A successful program, he said, is the Village Doctor Training Plan, which Give2Asia has supported since 2012 in partnership with Johnson & Johnson. This has included an investment of US$300,000. To date the program has trained about 1,000 village doctors across 12 provinces and autonomous regions including Hebei, Shandong, Guizhou, Yunnan, Heilongjiang, Qinghai, Hainan, Inner Mongolia, and Xinjiang. By training these doctors to provide quality medical services and regular medicines in rural areas, the program has indirectly benefited nearly 1 million people and includes visits to community hospitals for more exposure to public health issues.

Birger attributed part of its success to the ability to scale the number of China-based partners they are supporting over many years.

GIve2Asia became one of the first overseas NGOs to successfully register in China under the China Overseas NGO Management Law that went into effect on Jan. 1, 2017.

Speaking of the implications of the 19th National Congress of the CPC concluding last month for the philanthropic sector in China, Birger said China is entering a new era and it is encouraging more engagement by people in China in activities such as philanthropy.

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