Ministry of Civil Affairs Releases 2006 Statistics

The Ministry of Civil Affairs (MOCA) released comprehensive 2006 statistics on areas such as civil society organizations and numbers of receipents of domestic social security programs, in a January 16 post on their website. 

The official numbers show a steady increase in the numbers of officially registered Chinese civil society organizations, including 186,000 social organizations (SOs), 159,000 non-governmental, non-commercial enterprises (NGNCE's), and 1138 foundations.  A seperate MOCA announcement detailing MOCA accomplishments for 2006 notes the creation of a enforcement and supervision bureau, aimed at "upholding social order by timely and effectively uncovering illegal civil society organizations and violations of the law by civil society organizations."

Below is a comprehensive statistical table of Chinese civil society organizations, compiling information from the 2006 and 2005 MOCA statistical releases, and an earlier table on the website of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China.

Organization type	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006
Registered SOs (in thousands)	137	131	129	133	142	153	168	186
Registered NGNCEs (in thousands)	6	23	82	111	124	135	146	159
Foundations							99	1138