Social Sciences in China (Chinese Edition)

No. 10, 2025

The Chinese Construction of the Legal System for Charitable Property

(Abstract)

Gao Zhihong

Philanthropy with Chinese characteristics is shifting from traditional charity to modern philanthropy. Yet existing charitable resources remain insufficient to support the goals of common prosperity through the “tertiary distribution,” making legal innovation essential to promote the high-quality development of philanthropy. The value-function coupling, composite legal positioning, and incremental institutional evolution of charitable property define its structural significance within China’s legal system for philanthropy. Accordingly, the construction of China’s charitable legal framework should be anchored in the value orientation of the tertiary distribution, with charitable property at its core. In normative jurisprudence, charitable property has dual attributes—combining elements of both public and private law—and should therefore be recognized as an independent category of property. Its public welfare nature determines the distinct configuration of its “bundle of rights” and “bundle of obligations.” To establish China’s legal system for charitable property, it is necessary to first clarify the scope and types of charitable property, ensure the protection of its public welfare functions, define a rational allocation of rights and obligations, and support the framework through innovative regulatory mechanisms.