Special Olympics envoy comes at rough patch for Chinese giving

BEIJING (Reuters) - An often-shunned corner of Chinese society is getting a philanthropic boost from one of the most-recognised faces in China at a time when charitable donations in this country have hit a rough patch.

Yang Lan, a popular Chinese television personality, entrepreneur and philanthropist, on Saturday became global ambassador to the Special Olympics, the international sports program for people with intellectual disabilities.

From that perch, Yang hopes to promote greater inclusion into Chinese society of the intellectually disabled.

She told about a gathering of Special Olympics volunteers from five Beijing universities that she would promote diversity and inclusion "so people with disabilities will be more active and visible in Chinese society and around the world."

Yang earlier pledged to push for reforms in regulations over charities to make them more accountable and acceptable to a sometimes-sceptical Chinese public.

"Nowadays we are abiding by rules set in the 1980s, in the last century," Yang said in an interview with Reuters.

"A lot of things don't really relate to the current situation. So as a public figure, I want to advocate for speedier and updated regulation of philanthropy in China."

Yang's appointment comes at a time when philanthropy in China has met with difficulties in the wake of public anger over perceived lack of transparency.

A 20-year-old woman who falsely claimed to hold a senior Red Cross position in China posted photos on the Internet of herself posing with expensive fashion accessories and what she called her stable of luxury cars.

Although she later apologised, the public backlash was so great that donations to charities across China plummeted 90 percent in July from the previous month, the government-run China Daily last week quoted the China Charity and Donation Information Center as saying.

"Yes, it's a huge impact and a blow to existing institutions like the Red Cross foundations," Yang said. But, she said, the controversy presents an opportunity.

"I think Chinese philanthropy is on the verge of a historic transformation and involvement," she said in the office of her Red Cross-affiliated Sun Culture Foundation, which works with a number of charity causes in China.

"The government has realised it cannot take the full responsibility of all social needs, so I think it's more prepared to loosen regulations so that more non-profit organisations can grow, that civil society can grow more robustly," Yang said.

Chinese are rapidly becoming more affluent, and more than 960,000 Chinese are worth at least $1.5 million, according to the annual Hurun List of wealthy Chinese released earlier this month.

With increasing affluence, Chinese have also gained interest in sharing their wealth, Yang said.

"Many entrepreneurs are reaching retirement age, and they're thinking about how to set up family funds or trusts to give back to society in more systematic ways," she said.

In taking her position with the Special Olympics on Saturday, which is designated Eunice Kennedy Shriver Day in honor of the Special Olympics founder, Yang hopes to convince ordinary Chinese that they can make a difference.

"What I and society and the world of philanthropy need to convince individual and ordinary donors is how effectively they can translate their love and support to those who are in need," she told Reuters. "You have to convince them of the effectiveness of your efforts."

(Reporting by Beijing Newsroom; Editing by Ed Lane)