Research On The Legal Problems Of Chinese Charitable Trust Trustee Model

Charitable trusts have emerged as a novel philanthropic approach in China,serving as a new mechanism for charities to engage in the tertiary distribution sector.The trustee model,as the cornerstone of the modern charitable trust system,has garnered considerable attention from both practical and theoretical perspectives in recent years.According to Chinese legislation,both trust companies and charitable organizations may assume the role of charitable trust trustees.Consequently,the single trustee model where trust companies and charitable organizations independently serve as trustees of charitable trusts and the co-trustee model where trust companies and charitable organizations jointly act as trustees(also known as the dual trustee model)have been established due to varying subjects assuming the trustee role in charitable trusts.The optimal method for integrating the practice of charitable trusts in China and fully capitalizing on the comparative advantages of different trustee models is currently a key concern for the healthy development of Chinese charitable trusts.Owing to the influences of the legal system,societal awareness,and traditional culture,both the single trustee model and the co-trustee model in China exhibit certain shortcomings.For the single trustee model,principal issues include inadequate trust property management capacity,an imperfect supervision mechanism,and a lack of institutional safeguards.The co-trustee model faces challenges such as unclear power and responsibility allocation relationships,an absence of a non-monetary charitable trust property registration system,ambiguous income tax preferences,and excessively stringent criteria for charitable trusts.To ameliorate the problems inherent in the single trustee model,efforts should be directed toward enhancing the trustee’s property management capabilities,optimizing supervisory methods,and bolstering institutional guarantees.To address the issues associated with the co-trustee model,potential improvements include exploring new mechanisms for sharing rights and responsibilities,diversifying the types of charitable trust property registration,and refining the preferential provisions for charitable trust income tax.The refinement and enhancement of China’s charitable trust trustee model system will provide a robust regulatory and institutional foundation for the sound development of charitable trusts in the country.