China increases number of social workers

China now has 360,000 social workers, and aims to employ 1.45 million by 2020, according to the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

Wang Jinhua, the director of the social work department at the ministry, said 123,800 people have passed the national social workers' professional test.

There are more than 20,000 certified social workers in Guangdong province and more than 15,000 in both Beijing and Jiangsu province. In Zhejiang province, more than 10,000 social workers hold professional certification.

Wang said that 289 colleges and universities in China offer bachelor's degrees in social work and 61 universities and research institutes provide master’s degrees in social work.

"More than 30,000 professional social workers are cultivated each year," Wang said.

Wang estimated there will be about 500,000 social workers in 2015, and those who focus on teenagers alone will rise to 200,000 in 2020.

Furthermore, the ministry has committed to assign 1,000 and train 500 professional social workers for remote and poor areas, ethnic minority areas and former revolutionary strongholds each year from 2013 to 2020.