A database of homeless people in 32 Chinese cities was started Monday by China's Ministry of Civil Affairs.
 
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)