During a press briefing of the State Council’s Information Office on February 21, China’s Minister of Civil Affairs Shuxian Huang gave a talk on the development and reform of civil affairs in 2018 alongside three vice-ministers.
Minister Huang assured that after going through institutional reform, the Ministry of Civil Affairs will focus more on the bottom-line of livelihood security, basic social governance, basic social services and special administrative functions. It will not only take care of and protect vulnerable groups as well as other social forces, but also strengthen grassroots democracy and social work talent team construction.
It was also pointed out during the briefing that total charitable donations reached the sum of 75.42 billion yuan in 2018. The urban and rural subsistence allowances were increased by 7.2% and 12.4% respectively, and the basic living conditions of more than 45 million receivers of these allowances improved. More than 10 million disabled people also benefited from living and nursing allowances. When it comes to social affairs administration, the Ministry of Civil Affairs has taken care of more than 320,000 orphans and helped more than 1.46 million homeless people.
According to the minister, in 2019 the Ministry of Civil Affairs will release ten new measures for the people’s benefit, concerning issues including the nursing of people in poverty with severe disabilities, the legislation of the registration and administration of social organizations, the information disclosure of charitable trusts and the administration of rescue operations for the urban homeless.
