BEIJING - China will improve care for people living in difficult situations at the grassroots level by upgrading existing caregiving facilities and building new ones, according to the Ministry of Civil Affairs (MCA).

By the end of 2022, each county-level region will have at least one institution that mainly provides professional caretaking services for people living in difficult situations and who are unable to take care of themselves due to physical or mental disabilities, according to circulars jointly issued by the MCA with other ministries and the National Development and Reform Commission.

People living in difficult situations include the elderly, the disabled and minors who are incapable of working, have no source of income and have no others to rely on for support.

China will ensure that existing county-level caretaking service providers for people living in difficult situations are improved by the end of 2020, with all the major safety risks removed, according to the circulars.

By the end of 2018, China had 18,000 institutions in rural areas taking care of people living in difficult situations, providing around 1.88 million beds in total.

The circulars also called for the improvement of the management of the caregiving facilities by stepping up the registration of their legal persons and capacity building of their leaders and caretakers, and guaranteeing funds for their operations.