South China's Shenzhen, Guangdong province, aims to develop into "a city of volunteers", according to a new document released by the city government Sunday to mobilize more residents to engage in volunteer work.

Specific quantitative targets covering areas like social participation, organization of volunteers and community services are laid out in China's first index of volunteer activities, the draft of which was released Sunday to solicit public comments, said Huang Xiaopeng, the spokesperson and deputy secretary of the Shenzhen committee of China Communist Youth League.

The index is not binding, but only intended to better guide the development of the volunteer work, Huang said.

Now boasting more than 350,000 registered volunteers, Shenzhen plans to further expand the force to 1.1 million by 2015.

Colleges and universities are urged to set up optional classes for volunteer services, and primary and middle schools to organize volunteer activities of more than two school hours each year.

Across China to the north, the capital Beijing officially launched a real name registration system Sunday to encourage city dwellers to participate in volunteer work.

The system will record the service hours of registered volunteers and award them accordingly, according to Jinghua Times.