China's child welfare services shifting focus to minor protection

A staff member of a social welfare center in Maoming, south China's Guangdong Province, teaches a child to make the bed, April 27, 2021. (Xinhua/Deng Hua)

BEIJING, May 25 (Xinhua) -- China has planned to restructure its child welfare services and finish the reform process by 2025, shifting the focus of the service system to minor protection, the Ministry of Civil Affairs said Tuesday at a press conference.

Child welfare services in China have been dedicated to sheltering and supporting underage children whose guardianship is assumed by the civil affairs authorities, said the ministry, noting that many of the facilities now lie idle as the number of orphans dropped 66 percent from the 2012 figure to the current 190,000.

Close to 70 percent of county-level child welfare facilities have less than 10 residents, said Zhao Yong, an official with the ministry, adding that there are 1,217 child welfare facilities across the country.

In contrast with the declining orphan number, more children living with serious illness and disabilities are becoming unattended and in want of professional care, which the existing child welfare facilities fall short of, Zhao said.