In authoritarian states, NGOs play a key role of maintaining social stability and spiritual mollification. These organizations make tremendous contribution to transitory societies without "taxing the crap out of you" as did the government. This is what we call a win-win position for government and people.
But in mainland China, every independent NGO gets eradicated by the Commie as soon as it evolves higher than the municipal level. A society without "the Third Sector" (as opposed to the public and the private sector) is by definition unmodernized.