A meeting was held in central China's Henan province to promote the project of constructing county-level social welfare centers. Li Ya, vice governor of the province, presided over the meeting.

The government has sent professionals to undertake research into local counties and set up the centers' locations according to the research outcomes. Since 2009, the province has received an amount of funding from the civil affairs ministry and welfare lottery institutions, aiming to build or rebuild 107 welfare centers. So far 54 have been completed, with a total capacity of 10,800 beds. About 700 million yuan ($14 million) has been the cost.

Li said that such a project is effective in protecting the legal rights of those in need of help, and improving the public service function of the government.