Anatomy of a Non-Profit Organization in China

The Donation-based Legal Person (捐助法人) in the Chinese Civil Code

The Chinese Civil Code provides for three forms of donation-based legal persons: foundation, social service organizations, and venues for holding religious activities. These donation-based legal persons share some of the characteristics of other non-profit organizations in the Civil Code, while differing from them in varying degrees of special features. The lecture addresses the question of what role donation-based legal persons have in Chinese civil law, discusses possible functional equivalents in other legal systems, and illustrates their organizational structure. The presentation also focuses on the role of donors, who are given a prominent position in the governance of these legal entities.

This lecture is open to the public. Please register below.

Organized by China, Law, and Society, an Initiative of Max Planck Law.

Professor Dr Knut Benjamin Pißler is Senior Research Fellow and Head of the Centre of Expertise on China and Korea at the Max Planck Institute for Comparative and International Private Law . He is also Professor of Chinese Law at the University of Göttingen.