The Chinese Government has welcomed the role of the Catholic and Protestant Churches in providing social care in the country.
"The Government welcomes the support of the Church. We lack the
resources to meet all the needs that we face, so we need religious
organisations in order to do so," said Wang Xinhua, deputy inspector of
the Shanghai Ethnic and Religious Affairs Commission, representing the
national Government's Religious Affairs department.
Mr Wang was speaking at a conference in Shanghai sponsored by the Bible Society on the role of Christianity in China.
Mr Wang added that the beliefs and love of the Churches were an "advantage" to society.
He said China's charitable sector was facing "a crisis of confidence"
due to corruption scandals, saying that the Churches made a less
corrupt partner for the Government to work with.
Though it is the world's second biggest economy, China has a social
care crisis particularly in caring for an increasingly elderly
population. The one-child policy has led to the burden of care falling
on the shoulders of a smaller number of people.
According to the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, by 2040 nearly
20 per cent of China's rural population will be aged over 65.
At the conference, the Government called on the Church to provide
care for the elderly, as well as offering drug prevention and
rehabilitation, and work with those living with HIV.
Professor Zhu Xiaohong, of the School of Philosophy at Fudan
University in Shanghai, noted that successive popes had "encouraged the
Catholic Church to put an emphasis on social care".
"The Catholic Church as a universal institution has always made very
clear its mission to serve people in need," she said. "I believe that
the environment in China is more and more congenial for this to happen."