China has significantly strengthened the social security system for its people, particularly vulnerable groups, including the impoverished, disabled, elderly and children in difficulty, during the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-2025), said the Ministry of Civil Affairs on Friday.
At a press conference in Beijing on major achievements made during the 14th Five-Year Plan period, officials with the ministry said China has established a multi-tiered social assistance system that covers more people in need.
So far in the 2021-2025 period, subsistence allowance standards for urban and rural areas have increased by 19.6 percent and 21.3 percent respectively, benefiting 39.4 million low-income individuals, as well as 4.82 million others who have no ability to work, no source of livelihood, and no obligated supporters.
Lu Zhiyuan, Minister of Civil Affairs, told the press that China has kept improving its elderly care service system which meets its national conditions.
"In terms of elderly care services, China has fully established a basic elderly care service system and completed the top-level design for the reform and development of elderly care services. A unique elderly care service system tailored to the national conditions is being rapidly constructed, and the supply structure has kept improving. By the end of 2024, there were 406,000 elderly care institutions and facilities nationwide, with the proportion of nursing beds increasing from 48 percent in 2020 to 65.7 percent at present," said the minister.
During the five-year period, China has also accelerated the construction of its care and support service system for severely disabled people, and the national average standards of living subsidies for disabled people in difficulty and nursing subsidies for severely disabled people increased by 31.9 percent and 22.5 percent respectively. Regarding the protection of children in difficult circumstances, China has included de facto orphaned children, left-behind children, and migrant children into the scope of national protection and care services, and a comprehensive protection and care system covering all types of children in difficult circumstances has been initially established.
The basic living security standards for orphans in centralized care, orphans living in the community, and de facto orphaned children have increased by 26 percent, 32 percent and 31 percent, respectively, compared to 2020.
China improves social security for vulnerable groups in 2021-2025
China improves social security for vulnerable groups in 2021-2025
China improves social security for vulnerable groups in 2021-2025
The United States' strikes on Venezuela and its abduction of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife on Saturday have drawn worldwide condemnations.
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Saturday that the United States has struck Venezuela and captured Maduro, who was flown out of the country along with his wife.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was deeply alarmed by the U.S. military actions, his spokesperson said in a statement.
"The Secretary-General continues to emphasize the importance of full respect -- by all -- of international law, including the UN Charter. He's deeply concerned that the rules of international law have not been respected," said the statement issued by spokesperson Stephane Dujarric.
China called on the United States to release Maduro and his wife at once, said a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson on Sunday.
China expresses grave concern over the U.S. forcible abduction of the Venezuelan President and his wife and taking them out of the country, said the spokesperson, adding that the U.S. move is in clear violation of international law, basic norms in international relations, and the purposes and principles of the UN Charter.
China calls on the United States to ensure the personal safety of Maduro and his wife, release them at once, stop toppling the government of Venezuela, and resolve issues through dialog and negotiation, said the spokesperson.
The Russian Foreign Ministry called for immediate clarification of the situation around Maduro and his wife after the U.S. aggression against Venezuela.
Russia is "extremely alarmed" by reports of Maduro and his wife's forcible removal from Venezuela during the U.S. action, the ministry said in a statement.
"We call for immediate clarification of this situation. Such actions, if they actually occurred, constitute an unacceptable infringement on the sovereignty of an independent state, respect for which is a key principle of international law," the ministry added.
The ministry also said that the United States committed "an act of armed aggression" against Venezuela, which causes deep concern and condemnation.
The ministry noted that Latin America must remain a zone of peace, and Venezuela must be guaranteed the right to determine its own destiny without any destructive and military interference from outside.
Tens of thousands of people gathered on Saturday in Havana, the capital of Cuba, to denounce the U.S. military actions against Venezuela and voice support for their Latin American brother in defending its sovereignty.
At the event, Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel said that Latin America is not the backyard of the United States and that it neither accepts nor recognizes the Monroe Doctrine.
Condemning the U.S. strikes on Venezuela and its kidnapping of Maduro, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said that such actions blatantly violated international law, and gravely infringed upon the sovereignty of Venezuela, leading to power politics rather than multilateralism and resulting in violence, chaos and turmoil.
He urged the international community to react in a strong manner through the United Nations.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro opposed the unilateral military action, urging de-escalation to protect civilians.
The Foreign Ministry of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Sunday condemned the U.S. actions against Venezuela for violating the country's sovereignty, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported.
"The DPRK Foreign Ministry strongly denounces the U.S. hegemony-seeking act committed in Venezuela as the most serious form of encroachment of sovereignty and as a wanton violation of the UN Charter and international laws," a ministry spokesperson was quoted by the KCNA as saying.
Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim on Sunday said on social media that the U.S. capture of Maduro and his wife constitutes a clear violation of international law and amounts to an unlawful use of force against a sovereign state.
He said that the Maduro couple must be released immediately, adding that U.S. actions erode fundamental restraints on the use of power between states and weakens the legal framework that underpins international order.
Within the EU, nations including Germany, Spain, Italy and Portugal said they are closely monitoring the situation and called for restraint and solutions based on international law.
The European Parliament criticized the U.S. action as illegal and destabilizing.
EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas on Saturday said on social media that the EU is closely monitoring the situation in Venezuela.
"Under all circumstances, the principles of international law and the UN Charter must be respected," she said.
US strikes on Venezuela draw international condemnation
