China expands scope of social assistance for disaster-hit and needy populations

This winter, Yang Chungui's family in the village of Longwangmiao, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, can at last feel at ease and have a secure winter. Last August, their village was hit by a severe flood, affecting nearly 60 percent of its arable land and damaging the homes of Yang's family and 145 other villagers.

Following this challenging period, local officials quickly formed a special team to implement the disaster relief policy, bringing 238 households affected by the flood under the minimum subsistence allowances. This effort secured the basic needs of Yang's family and facilitated the renovation of their home.

"I've recently installed floor heating throughout the entire house. It's cleaner and more efficient than the old stove and keeps the house warm without requiring much firewood," said Yang. "Since the renovation, all the windows have been upgraded to triple-glazed, providing good thermal insulation."

"In short, this winter, our house is much warmer than it was before the repairs."

Since last year, various regions in China have been impacted by a range of natural disasters like floods, freezing rain and snow and earthquakes. Some areas were severely affected, incurring substantial losses and are facing challenges in post-disaster reconstruction.

For individuals like Yang, who face hardships due to disasters, local civil affairs departments have swiftly included them into social assistance. In 2023, approximately 1.268 million people in disaster-stricken areas across various locations received aid, with a total expenditure of 610 million yuan (about $85.16), according to the latest data from the ministry.

In cases of sudden, urgent or severe hardships that disrupt daily life, the Ministry of Civil Affairs is removing application restrictions related to household registration and residence to ensure the aid reaches more people in need. 

"In recent years, we've seen a frequent occurrence of various extreme natural disasters, placing greater demands on our capabilities in disaster prevention and relief," said Zhu Zhongming, Vice Minister of Finance.

In October, the Chinese central government approved the issuance of an additional 1 trillion yuan in special treasury bonds designated for eight specific areas in the fourth quarter, including post-disaster reconstruction, major flood prevention projects and the development of high-standard farmland.

In the following month, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Emergency Management jointly allocated nearly 4.85 billion yuan of central natural disaster relief funds to support local governments in conducting relief work for people affected by disasters during the winter and spring seasons.

Broader reach of assistance

China has expanded its social assistance to include not only those affected by natural disasters but also others in need. Zhang Lin, an official from the Department of Social Assistance at the Ministry of Civil Affairs, told the China Media Group that they have further extend the scope of aid in a more effective way.

"Assistance levels and contents vary based on the severity of the individuals' needs, making the policies more focused and increasing the effectiveness of our social assistance efforts," she said.

Currently, China has developed a comprehensive and regularly updated information platform for low-income population. The platform includes data on recipients of subsistence allowances and individuals living indifficulties, enabling the implementation of targeted and categorized assistance for those in need.

This development is part of China's broader commitment to constructing a robust social security network and enhancing a multi-tiered, categorized social assistance system, as outlined in the central economic work conference.

"We have set up a data-sharing mechanism with the education, medical insurance and other relevant departments, which helps us to proactively distributes information about the low-income population to relevant departments based on various categories of need," said Zhang. "This approach assist these departments in effectively providing relief services."

"For example, we share information about low-income individuals facing medical expenses with the medical insurance department, and data on school-age students in need with the education department," she detailed. "It prevents missed and duplicated rescue efforts to increase the precision of our assistance, and also simplifies the process of applying for aid."