Red Cross Asks Branches to Promote Transparency

The Red Cross Society of China (RCSC), one of China's leading government-sponsored charity organizations, has asked its local branches to earnestly implement its recent instruction and promote transparency in donations and expenditure information.

The information about donations, expenditures, the charity material purchases, and the allocation of the donations should all be open and transparent to the public, said a statement published on the RCSC website Thursday.

Earlier this month, the RCSC pledged to increase transparency and speed up the establishment of a transparent system and a long-term mechanism to promote honesty and fight corruption within the organization.

The donor will be able to check relevant information just one day after the donation, the statement said.

The charity will also publish its spending of public-funded overseas trips, vehicles and receptions, and its auditing reports over the recent two years.

The charity's statements are being issued amid a mounting public trust crisis after Guo Meimei, a 20-year-old girl who claimed to have links with the organization, posted photos on her microblog detailing her excessively lavish lifestyle.