A database of homeless people in 32 Chinese cities was started
Monday by China's Ministry of Civil Affairs.
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It is intended to provide aid to genuinely poor people especially
children and the disabled and to prevent abuses of the welfare
system.
Welfare workers will record specific information about each
homeless person including their age, birthplace and their reason
for leaving it. This will create an integrated database for all the
cities, so welfare departments can gauge whether those claiming to
be homeless really are.
The Ministry estimates there are around 150,000 homeless
children in China, and over 80 percent of them are from
underdeveloped rural areas.
A website has also been launched: www.jiuzhunet.net, where
citizens can post information about missing people to increase
their chances of finding them.
(Xinhua News Agency August 9, 2005)