Charity organizations are in urgent need of more professional staff, as the sector continues to grow, according to Hong Kong General Chamber of Social Enterprises.

Timothy Ma, the chamber's vice chairman, told the China Philanthropy Forum that as reliance on corporate donations grows, the sector is running short of trained professional fundraisers and managers to handle the rising volumes involved.

Ma has spent the past five years arranging fund-raising training in the Chinese mainland. "In the United States, this type of training takes four years," he said.