Pivotal Place: Southern China Guidelines

In March 2004, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund decided to concentrate its Asian grantmaking in southern China, one of the fastest growing and most dynamic regions of the world. This focus builds on the Fund’s history of philanthropy in East and Southeast Asia and continues over a century of Rockefeller family philanthropy in China which includes the founding of the Peking Union Medical College in 1917.

The Fund’s geographic area of interest encompasses the nine diverse and interconnected provinces of the Pan Pearl River Delta—Guangdong, Guangxi, Hunan, Yunnan, Sichuan, Guizhou, Fujian, Hainan, and Jiangxi—and, to a lesser extent, Hong Kong and Macau. This region accounts for one-third of China’s population and 40 percent of its GDP. It has played a pivotal role in China’s extraordinary progress over the last 30 years, progress which includes, among many achievements, the elevation of hundreds of millions of people out of extreme poverty and the growth of China’s economy into the second largest in the world. In practice, RBF grantmaking also connects work in southern China with Beijing-based institutions and stakeholders because of their importance in addressing regional and national sustainable development challenges.

Southern China’s rapid development, however, has been accompanied by profound challenges including environmental degradation and growing disparities between rich and poor, urban and rural which, if not addressed, threaten the sustainability of development in the region, the country, and the world. With innovative government policy, a vibrant marketplace, and growing public participation, China has the potential to lead the world in sustainable approaches to development. The RBF's southern China grantmaking seeks to assist indigenous Chinese efforts to: 1) prevent and mitigate environmental pollution and improve the well-being of the Chinese people; 2) further sustainability energy practices and climate change solutions; and 3) strengthen community leadership for sustainable development.

At the core of all of the RBF’s work in southern China is a fundamental belief in the wisdom, creativity, and resourcefulness of the Chinese people. The Fund will encourage multidisciplinary approaches to problem solving that integrate social, economic, environmental, and cultural concerns; and it will seek to foster collaboration at all levels and across sectors—government, business, civil society, and academia.

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Goal: Mitigating Environmental Pollution and Its Impact on Public Health

Strategies:

  • Building knowledge, capacity, and cross-sector, cross-discipline collaborations.
  • Strengthening public participation in environmental governance by promoting accountability, transparency, and access to information.
  • Encouraging responsible corporate behavior in protecting the environment and public health.

Goal: Advancing Solutions to Climate Change

Strategies:

  • Supporting a broad range of initiatives to assist China’s efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, with a strong emphasis on work at the provincial and local levels to promote energy conservation and clean energy production.
  • Building understanding and facilitating cooperation between the United States and China in pursuing effective policy and action on energy and climate challenges.

Goal: Strengthening Community Leadership to Support Sustainable Development

Strategies:

  • Nurturing indigenous philanthropy.
  • Strengthening the capacity of key civil society institutions, including the development of emerging leaders.