The current system for classifying civic associations in China is ambiguous and misleading. As a result of the Chinese government’s restrictions on the creation of social organizations, a significant number of non-profit groups which, by Western standards, would be classified as nongovernmental organizations, have been compelled to register with the state as commercial enterprises. Further complicating the NGO landscape in China is the existence of numerous government-sponsored non-profit organizations, or GONGOs. While China’s GONGOs are generally believed to represent an indirect means of state social control, many of these organizations have recently become considerably less dependent on government funding. The GONGOs’ decreasing reliance on government support has pitted the state-sponsored organizations against legitimate NGOs in competition for private sources of funding. Beyond their struggle for resources, Chinese GONGOs and NGOs also compete for inter-organizational cooperation opportunities, operating space within Chinese society, and general legitimacy. Differentiating between GONGOs and NGOs can be difficult--as some “non-government” social organizations are only semi-autonomous in practice. In addition, the presence of religious and student organizations, business associations, web-based communities and sub-township groups has served to diversify and complicate the spectrum of civic associations in China.

I. NGOs in China: An Overview 
II. Classifying Chinese NGOs
III. The Influence of NGOs on Chinese Society
IV. Alexis De Tocqueville on Civic Associations
V. NGO Cooperation in China: The View from the Ground
VI. NGOs and China's Citizen Movement