On June 25, Huai'an Municipal Government held a press conference on raising the basic standard of living expenses for children in distress. From July 1, the city will take the lead in Jiangsu province to raise the standard, with the budget to be added by more than 3 million yuan a year. This is the sixth consecutive year since the 13th Five-Year Plan that Huai;an has raised the basic living cost standard for children in need.

Recently, Huai'an Civil Affairs Bureau, together with the Municipal Finance Bureau issued The Notice on Raising the Basic Standard of Living Costs for Children in Distress, which specifies that from July 1, the basic living expenses for centrally provided orphans, orphans scattered in society and children without caregivers will be increased from RMB 2,627, 1,708 and 1,367 per person per month to RMB 2,667, 1,794 and 1,436 per person per month respectively; children whose parents are unable to perform their guardianship duties will be paid at no less than 60% of the local scattered orphans' allowance standard; those with severe disabilities and illnesses are paid at no less than 50%. At present, a total of 5,029 children in difficulty are covered.

This year, Huai'an will raise the standard based on the requirements of realizing a natural growth for the living standard of orphans. At the same time, the ratio of the basic standard for orphans scattered in society to the one for orphans with centralized care will be increased from 65% to 67%, which is 2 percentage points higher than the provincial standard, narrowing the gap between the two groups.