A rise in donations to 98.9 billion yuan, or US$16.1 billion, in 2013 indicated an increase in public trust for Chinese charities after two years of suffering a plummet since a series of scandals emerged in 2011.

Reports released by the the Ministry of Civil Affairs subordinate China Charity and Donation Information Center showed a 21.06 percent increase in donations received by Chinese charities last year after two years of decline due to a series of scandals involving charity workers.

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According to the agency, the recovery was attributed to citizens' improved charity awareness, better philanthropy environment, and the public's eagerness to help those who have been affected by natural disasters.

The report shows that 70 percent of total donations received in 2013 were from corporations, which mostly included  companies based in foreign countries and privately owned ones in China.

Contrary to previous years when majority of the donations became education proceeds, about 40 percent of the donations received in 2013 went to health care as donations have been intended for medical operations funds or were mostly drug donations.

In the 2011 and 2012, donations have dropped after several issues involving charitable workers and groups emerged.

One of the biggest charity scandals implicated the Red Cross Society of China where a 20-year-old woman identified as Guo Meimei, who claimed to be the general manager for the charitable institution, flaunted her luxurious lifestyle that one could not have afforded from an NGO salary alone.

Slammed over the social media, the impact became massive to the institution that it had received numerous criticisms. In fact, citizens had been reportedly telling the organization to 'get lost' whenever they turn to social networking to raise funds.

Despite their denial of any connection to Guo, donations for the Red Cross Society of China plunged from 6.26 billion to 840 million yuan, or US$131.99 million, within a two-month period between June and August of 2011.

TagsCharity, Red Cross Society of China, donations