China's registered volunteers near 170 million

Volunteering service in China made a qualitative leap last year, according to a blue paper on the country's charity development released on Sunday.

The number of registered volunteers in China reached 169 million in 2019, committed to more than 2.26 billion hours of service in total, up 13.9 percent and 3.2 percent, respectively from the previous year.

The value of their volunteering service in 2019 stood at 90.36 billion yuan (about $12.92 billion), growing 9.7 percent from 2018 according to the blue paper, which was compiled by institutions including the Center of Social Policy Research at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and the Social Sciences Academic Press.

Volunteer organizations are facing a growing problem of insufficient funds, the paper alleged. The proportion of failing to recruit suitable volunteers for service has also risen. Another challenge volunteer organizations face is activities are not always supported by local governments or communities.

Social donations from across China in 2019 totaled about 133 billion yuan, a 4.72 percent increase from 127 billion yuan in 2018.

The blue paper noted in 2019 the concept of "tech for good" continued to spread. A growing number of large high-tech enterprises has incorporated the idea into their company values and development strategy. Also, more and more volunteer organizations and social innovation programs are starting to focus on how to effectively solve social problems with technology.