01 Inaugural General Assembly Successfully Held
We’ve been waiting and waiting—and finally, the letter from the Finanzamt (German tax office) has arrived! The official registration of Cangli Society is within reach. After countless revisions to our bylaws, we’ve made a breakthrough in the process of registering as a non-profit association. With the tax authority’s approval secured, our volunteer team quickly sprang into action. On February 21, 2025, the Inaugural General Assembly of Cangli Society was held as scheduled.
Cangli e.V. is a non-profit association, founded by Chinese women in Germany, aiming to support other Chinese women living and working across Germany and Europe. We're all about building an inclusive, supportive and empowering community—both online and in person—where Chinese people, especially women, can grow, connect, and thrive in both their personal and professional lives while living abroad.
At this historic event for Cangli Society, all attending volunteers unanimously approved the current bylaws and elected the association’s first Board of Directors.
02 The Original Intention Behind Cangli Society
At the beginning of 2024, the idea of registering Cangli as an official association was born. From there, we formed a core project team, brainstormed the name, discussed the place of registration, drafted the bylaws, and communicated back and forth with the tax office. By early 2025, we finally obtained official approval.
It took a whole year to go from 0 to 1.
Looking back, it’s hard to describe the inefficiency of administrative processes in Germany.
After each submission, we had to wait over two months just to receive a regular letter from the tax office.
In this digital era, these traditional procedures feel… very German. We once grumbled about the slowness and reliance on physical letters, but over time, we realized: each period of waiting also gave us time for deep reflection. With every round of revisions to the bylaws, we had the chance to ask ourselves again and again—What kind of association do we really want to build? Who is it for, and what is its purpose?
To be honest, this was the very first question the founding team discussed during a brainstorming retreat in Würzburg.
If we had been thinking only about market appeal or short-term strategy, targeting all Chinese people would’ve been the safest and most popular choice.
But our original intention was always to serve Chinese women. Several core members of the Cangli team shared that they chose to join precisely because they were moved by the idea of a community that speaks up for Chinese women.
In the end, we unanimously voted to stay true to our mission: Cangli Society serves Chinese women.
That said, this doesn’t mean we exclude Chinese men from our events—on the contrary, there are male volunteers in our team! Many of our event topics—whether about life or career—are not limited by gender.
We don’t want to promote gender opposition or use a single lens to discuss the various stages of life.
So what kind of association do we want to be? This led us to the next core issue in our brainstorming: What themes will Cangli’s future activities focus on—online and offline?
On this point, we were united. Cangli Society shouldn't focus solely on career topics. It should also cover self-care—supporting both the body and soul.
Yes, work is important. But for sustainable growth, we must also love ourselves well. That’s why we chose to emphasize "warmth and strength" instead of just knowledge and technology.
03 Cangli Society’s Website Is Live
With our official registration now complete, it was time for a dedicated platform where people can access Cangli’s updates and sign up for events—all in one place.
Our multi-talented creative lead, Xingyu, who previously designed our posters and postcards, revealed another one of his hidden talents: web design and development!
www.cangli-ev.com We’re proud to present the official launch of Cangli e.V. Website Version 1.0:
The name Cangli is a combination of characters from two former community names: Canghai Mingzhu (Pearl of the Deep Sea) and Hong Jinli (Red Brocade Carp). (Curious about the backstory? Stay tuned for our next article about our origins!)
The namecanglialso serves as an acronym:
C – Chinese-German
A – Association of
N – Networking
G – Growth
L – Leadership &
I – Inclusion
The "e.V." stands for Eingetragener Verein, which means a registered non-profit association under German law.
The website features our origin story, an introduction to the core team, recaps of past events, and info on current and upcoming activities.
In the future, membership registration and event sign-ups—both online and offline—will be fully integrated on the website.
So bookmark www.cangli-ev.com now and take a look! Next time, we’ll share more about Cangli’s past and future. Let’s swim together in this vast ocean, sharing warmth and strength, and let the brilliance of the Chinese community shine.
