A NEW law to end a restrictive dual line of reporting applied to all associations in China may be passed before the year is out, setting the stage for greater professionalism across the industry.
According to Maria Tong, China representative of American Society of Association Executives, the new law would require associations to register with and report to only the Ministry of Civil Affairs – the body that licenses such groupings – instead of having to do the same with a related industry authority within the government as well.
Multiple associations within a single industry may also be formed in the future.
“The growth of China’s associations industry is currently limited, as it is difficult to form an association and all projects are scrutinised by both authorities,” Tong said, adding that the vast country has only 260,000 associations today.
Florence Chua, director, Association Management & Consulting, MCI (Incon Group), China, said: “Multiple associations in the same industry will create intense competition for members. Associations will have to significantly improve their content for members and be on par with global standards. To do that, they will have to partner international associations. Eventually, we may see multiple Chinese associations in the same industry merging to form one powerful entity.”
Tong predicted that more association meetings would be held and the purpose of such meetings would be better defined, which in turn would see more associations engaging PCOs instead of handling everything themselves.
“Association meetings in China make up only nine per cent of the country’s total business events. Elsewhere in the world it is 19 per cent or so. There is much room for improvement in China,” said Yi Ding, lecturer at Hochschule Osnebrueck University of Applied Science, who studies China’s associations landscape.
While Chua opined that it would take several years for Chinese associations to mature, she has already seen some aspiring to function like international ones and are asking for overseas trade missions and knowledge exchanges.
