According to the South China Morning Post (www.scmp.com)
 
Chinese authorities move to relax controls on NGOs. Mainland authorities plan to make it easier for NGOs to register - but will continue to ban bodies with political interests.  Under existing regulations, a non-governmental organisation must team up with a government unit, which helps the NGO to register at the Civil Affairs
Ministry.  This system puts an NGO's activities under the control of both the ministry and the government units to which it is tied. Under the proposed changes to the regulations, NGOs may be able to apply directly to the Civil Affairs Ministry to register without forming links with a government unit, giving them a higher degree of autonomy.


According to the Daily Yomiuri (http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/index-e.htm)

Japanese Finance Ministry has begun looking into ways to expand the preferential tax system for nonprofit organizations to boost donations from individuals to NPOs in revising the tax system for fiscal 2003, sources close to the ministry said Tuesday. Under the current NPO preferential tax system, individuals who make donations to NPOs recognized by the National Tax Administration Agency can have part of their donations deducted from their taxable incomes.

The ministry plans to ease the authorization requirements for NPOs to increase their number and encourage individual donations, the sources said. The preferential tax system for NPOs was implemented in October. Under the system, individuals who donate to NPOs recognized by the agency can have either their total donations or 25 percent of their annual incomes--whichever is smaller--deducted when they file their income tax returns after an initial 10,000 yen deduction.