China's underprivileged getting better benefits

BEIJING -- China allocated more subsistence allowance for the poor in 2013, with a total fund of more than 156.6 billion yuan (25.8 billion U.S. dollars), Vice Minister of Civil Affairs Dou Yupei said on Wednesday.

Last year, subsidies for the urban poor totaled more than 72.4 billion yuan, up 13.9 percent year on year, and those for rural poor people added up to 84.2 billion yuan, with an annual increase of 17.3 percent, Dou said at a press conference.

China spent another 17.4 billion yuan on 53.82 million poor seniors, people with disabilities and juveniles who have no source of income in rural areas.

"A total of 79.816 million people were receiving government assistance on a regular basis, with 174.03 billion yuan spent on them in 2013," said Dou, adding that some 100 million medical grants were issued.

According to the vice minister, the central government also allocated disaster-relief funding of more than 10.57 billion yuan last year, with 12 million people relocated from areas hit by earthquakes or floods.

He said that the ministry together with other nine departments conducted a campaign that helped 159,000 vagrant juveniles.

Since China issued a guideline to bring more security to orphans in 2010, the country has set a minimum-standard monthly living allowance of 1,000 yuan per child living in orphanages and 600 yuan for those in adopted households, Dou noted.

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