China's "Regulations on the Administration of Foundations" divides public welfare foundations into public offerings and non-public offerings.

Non-public foundations, similar to foreign corporate foundations and family foundations, are mainly funded by specific groups and only raise funds in a small circle; public foundations have a higher degree of public participation and can

Raise donations from the unspecified majority of society.

There is no superiority or inferiority between the two foundations.

Generally speaking, some socially innovative and experimental public welfare projects are better supported by non-public foundations; while in areas such as poverty alleviation, relief, and disaster relief, public foundations are more suitable for mobilizing public participation.

However, due to the strong public nature and wide coverage of public foundations, the Chinese government has stricter approval management of public foundations.

As of the end of 2012, there were 1,316 public foundations across the country, the vast majority of which were initiated by the government and were typical government-run charities.