At this year's provincial two sessions meetings in Zhejiang, two deputies from Jinhua city made separate proposals for the province to act as a pilot in a program aimed at promoting government approval of private adoptions.

According to Zhejiang's Civil Affairs Department, the province has 68 orphanages. Officially they house 3,600 orphans, but about 1,400 of them live in foster homes overseen by the department.

In the past decade, Zhejiang has invested 380 million yuan ($61 million) to build or repair children's homes. In 2012, more than 40 million yuan was spent on improving the orphans' standard of living and the civil affairs department helped about 3,400 families to adopt a child.

Chen Xiaode, one of the officials responsible for children's welfare, said only a few people or private orphanages run by social welfare institutions adopted children in the province without official permission. The department is conducting investigations into those cases.

The biggest problem, Chen said, is that children's homes lack professionally trained staff to take care of the children, especially those with disabilities, because experienced teachers and nurses are in short supply.

Yang Wanli

(China Daily 04/10/2013 page6)