As we have noted, there are more than 2 million NGO's in the US. By contrast, as recently as 1999, there were a mere 6,000 in China. In seven short years, that number has grown exponentially to more than 150,000. Because international NGO's are not allowed to raise money in China, many of the larger NGO's are actually owned by the government. Ironically, they are called Gongos -- government-owned, non-governmental organizations. Make sense? They absorb 85 percent of all donations.

Speaking of donations, in the US, charitable giving almost equals 2% of the GDP, while in China that number is much lower at only 0.05%. Most of the corporate contributions come from multi-nationals like IBM who create learning centers in schools or Microsoft who provides computer training for the unemployed. Leading domestic companies contribute less than 0.3% of their post tax income to charity compared to the Fortune 500, which averages about 2%.

For now, giving in China is less about social change and more focused on family and government projects. But in the coming decades, Chinese companies will realize that CSR can be an important business strategy especially as they establish their brands in the West.