In the history of China, non-profit organizations have a very long history and the embryonic form of non-governmental organizations and public welfare activities. In ancient China, there was a saying of "meeting the Party" and "meeting" since the pre-Qin period, and folk associations were quite popular during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. A political association group appeared in the later Han Dynasty, namely the famous Yellow Scarf Uprising. In the Song Dynasty, there were various cooperative, voluntary, and charitable organizations. At the end of the Yuan Dynasty, the Red Scarf Uprising centered on religion, as well as various secret religions and community organizations such as Luo religion, Dacheng religion, Heaven and Earth Society, and Senior Citizens Association. From the Ming Dynasty to modern times, Hongbang and green gang all formed a civil society different from the feudal government in the history of China.

Judging from the modern history of China, the development of non-profit organizations has mainly gone through three stages.

The first stage was the establishment of New China in the early 20th century 1949. At this stage, China was in a special historical period in which various forces in semi-colonial and semi-feudal society competed with each other, and a large number of non-profit organizations appeared. They are not only the continuation of folk traditions, but also influenced by western ideas and charity models. According to the available information, it includes at least six categories:

The first category is trade associations, including various "guilds" and "guilds", which are traditional.

One part is the continuation of traditional chambers of commerce and guilds, and the other part is a new trade organization developed with the rise of national industry and commerce.

The second category is mutual aid charitable organizations, including various "mutual aid societies", "cooperatives", "associations", "charity halls" and "nursery halls", some of which are the continuation of traditional mutual aid organizations and charitable organizations in China, while others are mainly established by foreign missionaries.

The third category is academic organizations, including various "societies", "research societies", "societies" and "associations", some of which were produced during the Westernization Movement in the late Qing Dynasty and were the products of ideological enlightenment and the spread of Western learning to the East. The other part was produced in the 1920s and 1930s, which was the product of the May 4th Movement and the New Culture Movement.

The fourth category is political organizations, such as student unions, trade unions, women's federations, youth leagues and other revolutionary organizations, as well as counter-revolutionary organizations such as the "Youth Youth League" and "Ganshe", as well as various battlefield service organizations and national salvation associations that rose during the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression period. These organizations have a strong political color.

The fifth category is literary organizations, such as various troupes, drama clubs, art groups, chess clubs and painting clubs. , mainly created by the literary and art circles.

The sixth category is the mysterious "social parties" or secret societies in China since modern times, such as the Society of Brothers, the Red Gang and green gang. These organizations are often anti-government, and some of them are used by revolutionaries.

The second stage is from the founding of New China to the end of the "Cultural Revolution".

After the establishment of the China Communist Party regime, the civil society was thoroughly cleaned up and rectified according to the socialist principles, and this process lasted until the early 1950s. During this period, two changes have had a great impact on the development of non-profit organizations. On the one hand, some non-governmental organizations are politicized, and some groups with obvious political tendencies are defined as "democratic parties" and transformed into political party organizations, such as the NLD and the Jiu San Society. Another important change is that some non-governmental organizations, a large number of feudal organizations and reactionary organizations have been banned according to law. Non-political nature has become a prominent and important feature of non-governmental organizations in China. After cleaning up and rectifying, chinese social organizations experienced a rapid development period from 1950s to mid-1960s. According to statistics, in 1965, the number of social organizations in China increased from 44 in the early days of liberation to nearly 100; Local social organizations have grown to more than 6,000.

The third stage is from the beginning of reform and opening up to the present.

The full implementation of the reform and opening-up policy has greatly changed China's economic, political, social and cultural concepts, and promoted the rapid development of non-governmental organizations. Throughout the 1980s, the number of social organizations increased at an unprecedented rate. From 1978- 1990 to 12, the number of social organizations in Xiaoshan City, Zhejiang Province increased by nearly 24 times. Since 1990s, the transition of economic system and the transformation of government functions have provided a broader development space for non-governmental organizations. According to statistics, by the end of 1998, there were more than 1800 national social organizations and more than 165600 local social organizations. The rapid development of private non-enterprise units is an epoch-making event since the mid-1990s. The enthusiasm of individual citizens and other social forces to invest in non-profit social service institutions such as schools, medical institutions, social welfare institutions and scientific research institutions is rapidly rising. By the end of 20001,civil affairs departments at all levels in China had registered and confirmed all kinds of private non-enterprise units in China, and nearly 654.38 million private non-enterprise units at or above the county level had been confirmed.