More than two decades ago,Zhang Kun,a 65-year-old businessman and former teacher in Dongguan City,Guangdong Province,embarked on a philanthropic joey to help poor children.In 1988,Zhang came across a letter from a poor student seeking financial help to finish her education.He helped the writer and then paid dozens of visits to schools in remote rural areas to find more children in need.Over time,his philanthropic mission attracted a group of like-minded donors.Together,they have supported around 4,000 students over the past 23 years.However,Zhang has had difficulty getting approval for his charitable organization from the local govment.Five times in the past seven years,he tried to register with the civil affairs department of the local govment,but his applications were rejected each time.According to the Regulation on Registration and Administration of Social Organizations,which became effective in 1998,non-govmental organizations (NGOs) must find a govment department or agency to be their supervisory body before they can be legally registered.Zhang had not been able to find a supervisory body.In July 2011,Minister of Civil Affairs Li Liguo announced at a meeting that independent nonprofit organizations in the fields of charity,social welfare and social services would be allowed to register directly with civil affairs departments,without first finding a supervisory body.