Foundations in China’s nonprofit sector have been increasing in both number and importance. However, scholarly research and nonacademic reports have left a question in the literature waiting to be answered: What led to the recent development and landscape of foundations in China? To answer this question within the framework of “manufactured civil society,” the typological method was used, in which 3342 foundations founded before 2014 were divided into seven types with regard to their founders and policy-related issues, namely government-created, corporate, school, family, religious, community, and independent. The results show that, to a large degree, (1) the government has been one of the major drivers behind the foundations’ development and (2) the government’s attitude and policy toward foundations have shaped and will continue to shape the foundation landscape in China.
