NGO Develepment And China Civil Society Growing

China is building a harmonious socialist society. It means, politically, a society ruled by the law; economically, a sustainable society; and culturally, a civil society. The creation of a civil society, however, depends on the cultivation of societal culture and the shaping of cultural adaptation. This article maintains that the development of NGO helps promote the development of the civil society in China. A precondition of civil society is sufficient NGO development and NGOs'participation in public affairs.NGO is the abbreviation of non-governmental organization; in Chinese official documents, NGOs are referred to as unofficial organizations or societal organizations. NGOs emerged in the 19^th century, initially in the form of fragmented, decentralized organizations and activities. After World War II, NGOs grew phenomenally. In 1909, there were 176 NGOs worldwide; the number rose to 1,008 in 1954 after World War II and to 45,000 in 2000. In the 20^th century, the number of NGOs grew by more than 250 times. And 2.5 billion people all over the world participated in NGOs and their activities in the few years after the Cold War. Driven by globalization, NGOs of different purposes increasingly link together to become strong, organized systems in the international community due to their massive influence internationally. On particular functional issues and areas, cross-border collaboration is the norm and NGOs play increasingly bigger roles in international affairs.The phrase"civil society"in its modern sense can be attributed to Hegel, who observed profoundly that as market developed, economic sectors were separated from political life; industrial associations, chambers of commerce and professional organizations of all kinds emerged. To quote Hegel,"Society is being separated from the state". What he meant by"society"was the civil society. Certainly, separation was not replacement. The society and the state rides on the back of each other."A society in and of itself doesn't comprise a complete system."NGOs play a tremendous role in building a harmonious society, a role governments cannot and shouldn't play. NGOs are increasingly seen as public participants and vehicles which cannot be neglected in modern societies. Faced with complex social issues, market and government failure has driven the reforms of government functions. In the wave of government functional reforms and privatization of state-owned companies, organizations which can take over public functions from governments can be identified to facilitate a more effective coordination mechanism to resolve the relations between the state, market and society. Against this general background, people turn to NGOs once again. In the policy-making of various countries, NGOs are attracting attention. Policy makers hope to stimulate the power of NGOs, especially community NGOs. And social development needs to be supported by NGOs.The relation between markets, governments and NGOs is complementary and interactive - complementation of advantages and positive interaction. Governments prevail when governance is concerned. NGOs can be a major force in managing society. Currently, NGOs should overcome reliance on governments and enhance sense of autonomy. Governments should strongly support NGOs and welcome the participation of NGOs. NGOs of any type are important parts of harmonious societal development. As NGOs grow rapidly and increasingly participate in national affairs, they become vehicles of citizen participation and civil society. NGOs have become a hot subject of study in the academic communities of developed countries. In China, although such studies are far from adequate, NGOs are also a hot subject in the academic world. This article tries to explore the issue deeply, to study how to better develop NGOs and their important, irreplaceable functions and roles in building the civil society and a harmonious socialist society.