For almost 90 years Rotary International has maintained a long-term commitment to China, and Clubs worldwide have contributed financially and otherwise to addressing many of the country's social issues.
From 1990 to 2000, for example, the various Rotary Clubs of Hong Kong alone made contributions in excess of US$10.2 million in various worthwhile causes in China, including education, disaster and poverty relief, medical assistance, and environmental protection. Rotary Clubs in Beijing and Shanghai have also made substantial contributions to their communities. Some of the projects they have focused on include setting up "Tent Schools" for poor children in desolate parts of China's Qinghai Province, supporting a center for autistic education in Beijing, and the Gift of Life program, which arranges and pays for open-heart surgery for needy children.
Rotary is also active in efforts to eradicate polio. As part of its Polio Plus program, the Rotary Foundation (a non-profit corporation supported by Rotarians worldwide) authorized a US$15 million grant to the World Bank to fund construction of a polio vaccine factory in Kunming. An additional US$900,000 was allocated to train Chinese medical personnel in various methods of eradicating polio. (By 2005, Rotarians worldwide are expected to have contributed US$500 million to fight the disease.)
To date Rotarians around the world have contributed over USD $117 million towards worthy projects in China.