Chinese civil affairs departments nationwide helped 5,226 stranded individuals return home in the first half of 2020, according to statistics released by the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

Meanwhile, assistance was provided on around 288,000 occasions between January and June amid a national campaign aimed to help the homeless and individuals with no means of supporting themselves, the ministry said.

Moreover, the country has offered financial support to people in need. By the end of June, China had provided 14.62 billion yuan (about 2.09 billion U.S. dollars) in price subsidies to support people in poverty.

In the first half of the year, a total of 3.396 million people were newly identified as people living on subsistence allowances or in extreme difficulty, and have benefited from the allowance scheme.

From March to June, the allowances were increased, and orphans and unattended children were included in the allowance scheme for the first time, the ministry noted.