CCTV9英语新闻：Draft charity law regulates online fund raising（在线收听）

Earlier we spoke to our reporter Hou Na in the studio. She talked about the heated debates over the charity law, including regulations over online fund raising.

"One of the highlights of the draft is that it stipulates that online fund raising for charity ought to be covered by the law. For example, an online post by a couple in Shaoxing, east China's Zhejiang province, whose 7-year-old daughter suffers from leukemia, recently went viral and ended up collecting about 260-thousand yuan, or 39-thousand dollars. Yet the wife was later found to own a Mercedes-Benz and a diamond ring worth over 10-thousand yuan. To prevent fraud, lawmakers must revise the charity law. Although the couple did confirm their daughter's illness and explained they needed to raise money for her treatment, it's understandable that some online donors have doubts about their need. Crowd-funding for charity has become a popular means for many in urgent need of help. But the law stipulates that only social organizations and non-profit government organizations designed for public welfare are entitled to solicit donations from the public. This means online campaigns normally launched by individuals, families, and volunteers fall outside the law. Their popularity highlights the need to better encourage and manage charitable donations. On the one hand, governments at all levels are supposed to keep an open mind to online requests for donations; on the other hand, they should establish a legal and administrative framework to make sure all donations go to legitimate needs," Hou Na said.