Damao Hutong in Xinjiekou, Beijing, is crowded with hair salons and food stalls. The hot breath from summer to the day before drifted into a newly renovated quadrangle.
After closing the gate, Wang came to the reporter with a newly filled hot kettle. Under the witness of this new office, his 14 career as an official of the Ministry of Civil Affairs is gradually drifting away.
Wang, 56, was transferred from the director of disaster relief department to the newly established director of social welfare and charity promotion department four months after the Wenchuan earthquake in 2008. The controversial charity field has also frequently pushed him to the public eye. Even when facing the media cameras, he unconsciously ran across his eyes and cheeks to relieve the discomfort caused by fatigue, which is a habitual action brought by his position.
This tired official has experienced a historical stage of rapid development and expansion in the field of charity in China. In the near future when he leaves the Ministry of Civil Affairs, a new draft charity law may be passed, and this year's donation amount and the number of charitable organizations will set a historical record.
This may be regarded as Wang's political achievements, but it didn't stop him from drafting a paper in his mind.
"He's leaving, he's leaving." Late at night in Yushu, Qinghai in April, Jet Li, the founder of One Foundation, told our reporter the story of Wang.
"He often tries to come up with policies or suggestions regardless of practical difficulties." But Jet Li successfully lobbied Wang to be the president of the One Foundation Public Welfare Research Institute of Beijing Normal University.
More like a scholar.
On June 2 1, One Foundation Research Institute was inaugurated in Beijing Normal University, and Wang's transfer procedure is about to be completed. He wore a gray suit that appeared in many activities, but the blue and white tie was obviously selected, which was consistent with the propaganda tone of One Foundation.
"My current leaders are One Foundation and Beijing Normal University." When Wang delivered a speech to the audience, he deliberately emphasized the change of role. Some journalists who ran charity suddenly found that his official title was quietly added with the word "former" in the publicity materials.
In the past, Wang was a supervisor of charity, but now, his job is responsible to the One Foundation Council. "When the preparatory meeting for the institute was held, I asked my colleagues to remind me at any time in the future not to have a long shelf."
One Foundation Research Institute is the first public education and research institution in China to award EMPA degrees. Jet Li, the founder of One Foundation, serves as the chairman, Dong Qi, the representative and executive vice president of Beijing Normal University, and famous entrepreneurs such as Ma Yun, Ma, Ma, and Ma are concurrently directors. In Wang's hands, he has a well-known social policy research team in domestic academic circles. The first batch of 20 million yuan of working capital will be mainly used for charitable research and to build a think tank similar to the Brookings Institution.
"He has a broad vision and theoretical thinking. When he was in the Ministry of Civil Affairs, he was more like a scholar. " A person familiar with Wang said to him. He co-authored the Basic System of Emergency Rescue Management for Natural Disasters in China, which was well tested in the 2008 Wenchuan Earthquake.
From an official to the head of an academic institution, more than 20 years of government experience is an indelible mark of Wang. Wang was born in rural Henan and served in Guilin, Guangxi from 1960s to 1970s. After resuming the college entrance examination in 1977, he entered the history department of Nankai University. After graduating from graduate school in 1960s and 1980s, he entered the famous Central Rural Policy Research Office and traveled all over the rural areas of China. 65438-0988 The Ministry of Civil Affairs established the Department of Grass-roots Political Power Construction. At that time, the director was Li, the current Minister of Civil Affairs, and Wang was the director of the subordinate rural department. They witnessed the birth and development of the grassroots democratic election system.
200 1, Wang returned from Harvard Kennedy College majoring in public administration and was transferred to the post of Director of Disaster Relief Department of the Ministry of Civil Affairs. With the development of philanthropy in China, he witnessed the formation and changes of many systems and systems, and also suffered various pressures brought by the rapid expansion of philanthropy.
Lonely people in officialdom
One of Wang's colleagues said, "Many organizations have been' digging' him for nearly a year." Wang also admitted that he had been thinking about leaving his job for some time.
On the afternoon of June 18, Wang repeatedly skipped the reporter's questioning on details and did not disclose the specific reasons for his resignation. But from the beginning of this year, after careful consideration and conversation, he finally made a report to the Ministry.
"Finding a way out after retirement will inevitably make people feel that they are going to be named." Wang explained that he was transferred during his term of office because he didn't want people in the school to say that he was a retired cadre.
According to the reporter, in general government agencies, the retirement age of bureau-level officials ranges from 57 to 60. At this age, if there is no chance of promotion, they will consider retiring or moving to another place.
In the charity circle, the news of "Wang's resignation" has only recently spread on a small scale. However, people are accustomed to his response to various public opinion hotspots related to charity, and at the same time lament that his speaking style is different from that of some officials. After the Wenchuan earthquake, the field of charity has received unprecedented attention. Wang Zeng made public statements on individual events such as "government charity", "huge equity donation", "tax exemption for charitable funds" and "money flowing into finance". People usually think that this will lead to pessimistic results.
"You know my character, it is inevitable to offend people when I speak." Wang said to him.
"In officialdom, he is a lonely man." One of Wang's subordinates said. The official gave an example. As the director of the Disaster Relief Department, Wang once applied for personal income tax exemption for a personal donation from 500 yuan, and went through 10 procedures in various departments. It took dozens of days to get back the tax exemption from 50 yuan.
This story is widely circulated in the media, and Wang's purpose is to promote the implementation of charitable tax preferential policies. However, this is a multi-department supervisor's field, and his practice has aroused criticism from some people in other departments.
During Wang's two years as director of the charity department, the number of charitable organizations registered in China has reached more than 1600, and the annual donations have reached more than 100 billion and more than 50 billion respectively. Faced with such a historical node, Wang admitted that he had left regrets. "
It was completely returned to the people.
In the eyes of charity practitioners in China, "government" and "people" mean two completely different development paths of charity. Judging the consciousness tendency of a charity participant is often based on this.
"Because there are many semi-official charitable organizations in China, most of which are held by retired officials, and they hold huge charitable resources. In recent years, many grassroots NGOs have emerged, and their rights and status in the original system are unbalanced. " A invited expert from the Ministry of Civil Affairs said that people have become accustomed to judging whether all policies and decrees in the field of charity are "beneficial to the government" or "beneficial to the people".
Wang will also put any measures taken for more than one year under this evaluation system. "He is open-minded within the system, but if you study his words carefully, you will find some contradictions between people and the system." The above experts said.
Wang also believes that he has completely returned to the people, and he must respect the people's way. He used to exempt donors from taxes, but this policy does not apply to all donors. Due to the tax exemption qualification of charitable organizations, it needs to be recognized by the state, local taxation, finance, civil affairs and other departments, which leads donors to donate to some organizations that have not been included in the tax exemption list and cannot get donations. Most of the first charitable organizations to obtain tax exemption status are semi-official, which is actually unfair treatment to charitable organizations.
Regarding the tax exemption system, there are more questions about Xu Yongguang, a good friend of Wang. 1In the mid-1980s, Xu served as the head of the Organization Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Youth League, and later transferred to China Youth Development Foundation, china charity federation and other semi-official charitable organizations. However, after 2000, Xu began to set foot in non-public charitable foundations, and has since become a representative voice for NGOs.
In 2009, Xu Yongguang's Du Nan Foundation and other charitable organizations sent a letter to the Ministry of Finance and State Taxation Administration of The People's Republic of China, arguing that levying business tax on non-public offering foundations is not conducive to their public welfare functions. Earlier, Wang told this reporter that the problem of tax exemption in Public Offering of Fund was mainly due to the lack of communication between the Foundation and relevant departments.
"After the establishment of the charity department, the national and local governments are waiting for the introduction of a systematic charity policy, but our policy has not come out for a long time." A person in charge of the community in the Ministry of Civil Affairs said that the work of the charity sector seems to focus more on the promotion of many specific projects. "The project is a matter for civil organizations, not what the government should do."
However, the person in charge also understands that the registration and tax exemption of non-governmental organizations of social concern involves not only the coordination between internal departments of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, but also the coordination between the Ministry of Civil Affairs and relevant ministries and commissions and large semi-official charitable organizations.
"It is difficult to break through this big structure, which is one of the reasons why Wang Yaozhen left." Wang's statement was not denied to reporters on the spot.
A few days ago, Wang's friends in the charity circle held a small party for his "turn around". Xu Yongguang said with the strength of wine, "I went to the sea." This is a crime left by officials of his time.
More people at the scene said, "No, Yao Zhen went ashore."