Help for vagrant children pledged

The Chinese government has vowed to ensure that vagrant children return to school by strengthening cooperation between government departments, according to a notice on the Ministry of Civil Affairs' website on Tuesday.

The ministry has led a multi-departmental campaign to send vagrant children home. As a result, the number of vagrant children on the mainland is declining, according to statistics released by the ministry.

In 2012, police from the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region helped 152 children from Xinjiang who had strayed into more prosperous cities, where they begged and picked pockets. The children either returned home or were placed in child rescue centers.

The number of vagrant children who are registered with rescue centers in Beijing has decreased 20 percent compared with last year. Southwest China's Chongqing municipality saw a decline of 42 percent during the same period.