China currently has 573,000 orphans, among whom 66,000 have been
adopted by government-sponsored orphanages, said Li Liguo, China's
vice minister of civil affairs, on Thursday.
"New orphan problems such as the insufficient basic maintenance
and the incomplete orphanage salvation system have frequently
emerged," Li said at a press conference.
In China, nearly 80 percent orphans, aged under 18, are adopted
by relatives, mostly grandparents who are in their 70s or 80s and
are living under the poverty line, according to the ministry.
Some orphans live with their uncles or aunts in China. The
adoption, considered as the family's overburden, often stirs
conflicts in families and such adopted children always roam about
the streets and may commit juvenile delinquency after making bad
friends, said Li.
In China, children under 15 years old who lost one parent have
reached as many as 76,000, Li said.
Relevant departments in China are currently improving the
orphanage salvation system, including providing orphans life
subsistence cost no lower than the local average, building and
restructuring orphan-adoption facilities and offering more
financial assistance to orphans' education, medical treatment,
employment and lodging.
(Xinhua News Agency January 5, 2006)