The Ministry of Civil Affairs will support private foundations by helping them with the registration, Xinhua News Agency reported on Wednesday, citing the Vice Minister Jiang Li.

Related readings:  China seeks to expand modern philanthropy  China sets up 1st charity fund financed by stocks  Charity legislation  Charity sees the need

Jiang spoke at the launching ceremony of the Amway Charity Foundation, China's first private foundation with a multinational company background under the direct supervision of the ministry.

China has 2,243 foundations at present while 153 are registered under the Ministry of Civil Affair and 65 of them are private.

The total assets of China's foundations have remained about 20 billion yuan ($3.09 billion) over the past three years, with more than half of the amount spent every year on public welfare.