A new regulation on aid for vagrants and beggars in urban areas takes effect today and is expected to help improve the country's social security system.

The Measures on Aid and Management for Urban Vagrants and Beggars was approved by the State Council in mid-July. It aims to provide temporary shelter for the homeless in a bid to maintain social order in cities.

The new regulation was launched to replace the two-decade-old Measures for the Internment and Deportation of Urban Vagrants and Beggars.

The former holding and deportation system for vagrants and beggars in urban areas is no longer suitable for the current situation, said Zhang Shifeng, vice-director of the Social Welfare and Social Affairs Department of the Ministry of Social Affairs.

The new regulation is designed to resolve the problem of urban vagrants and beggars and to improve social relief mechanisms, Zhang told China Daily yesterday.

Four aid stations for vagrants in Beijing's Chaoyang, Fengtai, Haidian and Shijingshan districts will open to the public today, officials at the Beijing Civil Affairs Bureau said yesterday.

Under the new regulation, vagrants can receive help from these aid stations if they are unable to feed themselves, have no relatives or friends with whom they can seek refuge and if they receive no minimum living allowance.

(HK Edition 08/01/2003 page2)