Chinese donate $442m online in 2018

Chinese donated over 3.17 billion yuan (about $442 million) on online charity platforms last year, registering a 26.8-percent growth from a year ago, according to a report on the implementation of China's Charity Law.

A total of 20 platforms are currently eligible to post donation requests online, according to the report released Sept 1 by China Philanthropy Research Institute.

In 2018, they published more than 21,000 fund-raising requests for over 1,400 charity organizations, attracting the participation of 8.46 billion internet users.

According to the report, there were 5,260 registered charitable organizations nationwide as of 2018, an increase of 34.5 percent over the previous year.

Guangdong ranks first in the country with 748 charitable organizations, followed by Beijing and Zhejiang with 728 and 630, respectively. Ningxia, Guangxi and Shandong stand as the top three regions in terms of the growth rate of charitable organizations.

China's Charity Law took effect on Sept 1, 2016.