Lawmakers approved what is the country's first charity legislation on March 16 at the closing meeting of the annual session of the National People's Congress.

The new law is expected to encourage more philanthropy, by better-regulated charitable organizations, and establish more trusted methods of fund-raising for the public, especially online.

Many charities today are Internet-based, or increasingly run on third-party platforms such as Tencent Holdings Ltd-owned gongyi.qq.com, or love.alipay.com and gongyi.taobao.com, which are run by Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, or gongyi.weibo.com, offered by Sina Corp.

To help safeguard against fraud, the new law stipulates that only charitable organizations officially approved for public fundraising activities can post relevant information online, and that all charity information channels must now be designated by the Ministry of Civil Affairs.