China to boost voluntary sector

China is to increase legislation relating to social work in an effort to boost the development of voluntary service organizations, an official said.

Wang Jinhua, director of the social work department at the Ministry of Civil Affairs, said legislation is to be prioritized as part of efforts to push forward the development of organizations and boost the number of workers in the field.

The central government has begun making revisions including regulations on voluntary service and laws on charity courses. The ministry has also started drafting a regulation on the management of social work professionals.

Guidelines to spur the development of social work organizations, including one that supports the development of voluntary service organizations, are also to be implemented.

China currently has 400,000 professional social workers including more than 158,000 that have been certified by civil affair authorities. There are 3,522 privately-operated social service organizations nationwide, according to the ministry.

Wang said the authority will hold more training workshops for social workers and enable them to play bigger roles in areas including aged care and drug rehabilitation.