China to build migrant children database to improve welfare and services

National action plan meant to ease the plight of these children, particularly the disabled and those without guardians

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China is compiling a database of children whose parents leave their hometown for long stretches in search of work. Photo: EPA

Published: 8:21pm, 4 Sep 2024

China is setting up a nationwide database of the children of migrant workers as the country grapples with a rise in juvenile crime.

The database will cover children who have been “left behind” in their hometowns while their parents work elsewhere, as well as children who have moved with their parents to other parts of the country for job opportunities.

Guo Yuqiang, director of the Ministry of Civil Affairs’ Department of Child Welfare, said on Wednesday that the central government aimed to have a precise list of children in need of care by 2026.

It also aimed to deliver obvious results in the protection of the psychological and physical health of these children by 2035.

Gao said the central government had set up an action plan for the protection of migrant children, the first plan of its kind at a national level in China.

A particular focus of attention will be children with disabilities, those without guardians, and those with psychological and behavioural needs.

Children with these categories will be identified for special care, with cadres from local authorities required to check on their welfare on a regular basis.