The Chinese Ministry of Civil Affairs (CMCA) issued a program with an aim to develop the country's charity activities in the next five years at a national charity conference held in Beijing Sunday.

"With China's economic, cultural and social conditions improving tremendously over recent years, charity is playing an increasingly vital role," according to the program, "as charity could help to help balance the difference between the rich and poor, so to maintain social stability."

The program sets forth general requirements and major targets for the development of charity activities in the next five years from 2006 to 2010, and elaborates the guidelines on the principles, basic policies and related measures for charity organizations, such as instituting charity service networks across the country and establishing a set of laws and regulations to ensure smooth charity operation.

Charity activities should aim at helping those with basic living difficulties and raising their living standards, the program noted.

Since China's reform and opening-up in the late 1970s, great improvements have been scored in the country's charity undertakings.

Fan Baojun, chairman of China Charity Federation (CCF), said at the meeting that China now has approximately 280,000 non-governmental charity organizations registered in CMCA by the end of 2004. And the membership of CCF has increased to 168 in the past 11 years since its founding in 1994.

(Xinhua News Agency November 21, 2005)