CEMF April 29, 2015

On April 29, 2015, the seminar on "Internationalization of NGOs under the Belt and Road Initiative" was held at the Research Center for Industrial Development and Environmental Governance (CIDEG) of Tsinghua University. The event was organized by the School of Public Administration of Tsinghua University, the Environmental Defense Fund of the United States, the China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development, the China-ASEAN Environmental Protection Cooperation Center of the Ministry of Environmental Protection, the China International NGO Cooperation Promotion Association and the Industrial Development and Environmental Governance Research Center of Tsinghua University. (CIDEG) co-host. At the meeting, representatives from government departments, non-governmental organizations and academic institutions jointly discussed the significance and path of internationalization of Chinese non-governmental organizations under the "One Belt, One Road" strategy. The seminar was first presided over by the dean of the School of Public Policy and Management of Tsinghua University and the director of Tsinghua CIDEG.

The "One Belt, One Road" strategy is a grand strategy proposed by my country recently. Through the construction of "One Belt, One Road", my country will discuss, build and share the new achievements of human civilization with the people of countries along the route. In the process of building the "Belt and Road", in addition to the active participation of the government and enterprises, we should also pay attention to and emphasize the important role played by non-governmental organizations.

Fred Krupp, Chairman of the U.S. Environmental Defense Fund and Distinguished Visiting Researcher of Global Leadership at Tsinghua University (Fred Krupp) first took the U.S. Environmental Defense Fund as an example and described how he led the Environmental Defense Fund from a grassroots organization in 30 years. It has developed into an international NGO with more than one million members and influences all over the world. He pointed out that by using the two sharp swords of science and economics, the Environmental Defense Fund will find solutions to the most pressing environmental problems as the mission of the organization. Fred Krupp pointed out that with the improvement of China's economic status, the world's requirements and expectations for China have gradually changed, and more and more people have asked China to undertake corresponding responsibilities and obligations in environmental protection and other aspects. In terms of coping with climate change, protecting the ecological environment and human health, Chinese NGOs should advance to the world stage and carry out extensive international exchanges and cooperation. Internationalizing Chinese NGOs will be an important boost to China's "Belt and Road" construction. In addition to economic co-prosperity, from the perspective of environmental protection, many countries along the route will also benefit from China's experience in environmental governance. China has a deep understanding and awareness of the impact and costs of economic development at the expense of the environment. Therefore, China's experience can help other countries make faster progress in the field of environmental protection.

Subsequently, Huang Haoming, secretary-general of the China Association for the Promotion of International Non-Governmental Organization Cooperation, also said that due to the natural attributes of non-governmental organizations, such as public welfare, non-profit, and voluntary nature, they are more friendly and convenient for social groups with different interests and concepts from countries along the route Communication and exchange between. In the process of building the "Belt and Road", we will be able to help Chinese investment win wider social and non-governmental recognition, and ensure that these investments are "green".

Huang Haoming mainly talked about the status quo of the internationalization strategy of Chinese social organizations. He said that the proportion of foreign-related organizations is very small at present. In 2013, it only accounted for one thousandth of all social organizations, mainly involved in humanitarian assistance affairs. He believes that the main modes of the internationalization of social organizations include based on their own country, and developing towards network law, regionalization and internationalization; social organizations establish partnerships with international organizations; social organizations cooperate with local national civil organizations, and use talents to govern localization; Social organizations cooperate with the local academic sector; cooperate with the government and participate in the official development assistance of the host country government. At the same time, he compared the international development path of American non-profit organizations, and analyzed the international strategic development path of Chinese social organizations from the dimensions of organizational governance, selection of partners, international business cooperation, and talent structure arrangement. It is believed that the main challenges facing the internationalization strategy of Chinese social organizations are the lack of policy basis, small scale, insufficient funds, system constraints, insufficient government financial support, and lack of professional talents.

In the round table discussion session of the meeting, Liu Zhenguo, Deputy Director of Civil Organization Administration of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, Fang Li, Assistant Secretary-General of China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development, Wang Ming, Professor of the School of Public Policy and Management of Tsinghua University and Dean of Tsinghua University Philanthropy Research Institute, Chinese Society Sun Tongquan from the Institute of Rural Development of the Academy of Sciences jointly focused on this topic and analyzed and interpreted it from different angles.

The guests agreed that the construction of the “Belt and Road” is inseparable from the participation of non-governmental organizations, and the state should actively support and support non-governmental organizations to participate in the “Belt and Road”. Through non-governmental exchanges and communication carried out by non-governmental organizations, good international public opinion will be created for the “Belt and Road” initiative, and it will become a bridge to achieve win-win cooperation among countries along the route. At the same time, given that Western countries started international activities earlier and have richer experience, Chinese NGOs can be encouraged to strengthen cooperation with these countries, absorb and learn from their good practices and advanced experience, so as to improve their ability to participate in international activities .

Sun Tongquan said that in the past, the main purpose of NGOs participating in government ODA was to provide services, and the capacity of NGOs needs to be strengthened urgently. Fang Li raised the question of why Chinese social organizations should go out, and believed that the communication tools of non-governmental organizations are softer and easier to accept, while the tools of the government are harder and harder to accept. In the “One Belt, One Road” strategy of going out, although the government maintains the original intention of mutual benefit and win-win results, it is not easy to be accepted by other governments, so it is even more necessary for non-governmental organizations to play an important role. Among the "five links" of the "Belt and Road", environmental protection is a common concept that can unite everyone. The value that China can convey is that China respects the ideas and values of other countries. Wang Ming pointed out that when social organizations go out, they must go beyond the boundaries of interests, regions, and social organizations, and go into the category of public welfare. He believes that "going out" is a process of transcendence. For Chinese NGOs, "going out" beyond the borders of the country is a very important proposition and challenge. At the same time, he pointed out that social organizations "going out" need a lot of support, especially institutional support, including learning systems, policy support systems, cooperation systems, and personnel training systems. Liu Zhenguo believes that the "going out" of social organizations is a problem of transition. In the past, China played the recipient country's role, and the role of "going out" is also a topic in the past two or three years. Now we are basically talking about how to join an international organization, but we have seldom mentioned how to start an international organization, which involves the issue of consciousness change. In addition, the relevant laws and policies of Chinese social organizations "going out" also need further study.