The country's opening-up policy and rapid economic development is also said to have helped an increasing number of non-government organizations (NGOs), community groups and members of the private sector working with the government agencies on volunteer projects.

"We must strengthen the cooperation and exchange with these organizations," CCYL volunteer director Xu Xiao said.

"These international groups have advanced management experience and we should learn from them."

Saving the Children, an international NGO helping needy children, has been working in China since the late 1980s, spreading the word of volunteerism through its projects.

"At first, few people had an idea of volunteer work and did not understand what we were doing," said Jiang Min, a project manager at the NGO's Kunming branch.

Jiang and her colleagues organized lectures, trainings and activities to explain their programs. Now the branch has up to 60 volunteers, including college students, retirees and professionals.

But many people still find it difficult to get access to volunteer associations in China.

"There are not many options for us," medical student Li said. She failed to apply for the Red Cross volunteer program because the requirements were too high, she said.

"Actually, I only know of a few NGOs in China and have no idea where to find them."

Li Yahui, the media manager for Saving the Children China, suggested that people who were interested in volunteer work should visit their related websites.

"We seldom do media campaigns but we will put out recruitment ads online," she said.

Members of the community should play more active roles in organizing volunteer work, CCYL's volunteer director Xu Xiao said.

"We are trying to make volunteer work more accessible for everyone," Xu said.

(China Daily December 5, 2008)