Over the past five years, China's social safety net has undergone a remarkable transformation, reaching more people than ever before. A recent government briefing highlighted how the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021 2025) has driven stronger, more equitable, and resilient welfare programs.
Key to this progress is a tiered social assistance system and a national dynamic monitoring mechanism that identifies individuals facing financial hardship. Since 2020, average urban and rural allowances have risen by 19.6% and 21.3% respectively, with 39.4 million low-income residents and 4.82 million extremely poor individuals now receiving ongoing support.
Child welfare has also seen a major boost, expanding care for orphans, left-behind children of migrant workers, and migrant youth. This marks a significant step toward a comprehensive protection and care framework for all children.
For people with disabilities, new living and nursing subsidies have been introduced, alongside faster development of care services for those with severe impairments and reinforced community rehabilitation for individuals with mental disorders. More than 1.26 million people have benefited so far.
Addressing one of its top social priorities, China has built a national basic elderly care system boasting 406,000 facilities and 7.99 million beds by the end of 2024. Over five years, 2.24 million home upgrades for seniors with special needs were completed, along with the creation of 500 model home care networks, 2,990 age-friendly communities, and 86,000 elderly canteens serving over 3 million seniors every day. Today, 49.45 million older residents receive subsidies like high-age allowances and nursing support.
Beyond direct assistance, social services have become more accessible. Marriage registration is streamlined, and funeral services have expanded with 3,350 public ash-scattering facilities and 16,800 cemeteries built in the past five years.
The charity sector has flourished in parallel, growing by 70% since 2020 to over 16,000 registered organizations. Annual donations now exceed 200 billion yuan, reflecting a rising culture of compassion and shared responsibility.
Together, these efforts illustrate how the country's bottom-line social security network is becoming denser and more inclusive, ensuring that the benefits of modernization are shared across society.
Reference(s):
cgtn.com
