SHENZHEN, China, Sept. 8, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Tencent moves to allocate 200 million yuan of special funds to assist public welfare organizations as the Chinese Internet giant kicks off its biggest annual online charitable campaign "99 Giving Day". It aims to support the public welfare industry recovering from the COVID-19 epidemic and promote sustainable development for the sector.
The new funds come at a time when public welfare organizations in China are suffering from the impact of the pandemic and are in need of social resources to regain a foothold. Tencent set aside the new funds from its 1.5-billion-yuan in domestic funding, which was announced earlier this year to help fight the epidemic.
Philanthropic organizations in China have faced unprecedented challenges this year due to the pandemic. Data released at the 2020 Internet Good Summit, a major charity forum initiated by Tencent Charity Foundation and its partners, showed that more than 60% of charitable organizations have experienced "significant or relatively big impact" from the epidemic. In terms of project implementation, 67.5% of charitable programs couldn't be carried out in local communities, and organizers of 36.1% programs were forced to halt cooperation with local communities.
Tencent Charity Foundation will use the new funds to support public benefit institutions with a proven track record and outstanding performance in "99 Giving Day" campaign.
"We have long formed a consensus with our public benefit partners: healthy and sustainable development of the Internet philanthropic system is the direction and goal to which we are jointly committed. We are all willing to see a vigorously growing public welfare industry, as well as a vibrant eco-system," said Charles CHEN Yidan, main founder of Tencent and the initiator and honorary chairman of the Tencent Charity Foundation, at the launch ceremony of ''99 Giving Day'' this year.
Tencent launched its annual ''99 Giving Day'' campaign on September 7th. Since its debut in 2015, the campaign has been committed to using technology to amplify and guard the goodwill of donors, and to enhance the transparency and efficiency of public welfare activities. As of September 5th, 2020, more than 92,000 programs benefited from Tencent Charity Foundation's public benefit online donation platform.
