A university student volunteer teaches left-behind children how to make small handicrafts in Xuzhou, East China's Jiangsu Province on July 11. Photo: VCG

Chinese cities strengthened efforts to protect left-behind children after a 9-year-old girl in East China's Zhejiang Province was taken away from her home and murdered by a couple. 

Local authorities in Hangzhou, capital of Zhejiang, issued a joint notice calling for enhanced self-protection awareness of the youth, especially left-behind children, in rural areas. 

The notice, released on Monday, also urged efforts to improve risk prevention capabilities of families, schools and communities. 

It said security risks, such as abduction, sexual harassment and drowning, must be given special attention. Security lectures will be held in schools and education centers, and booklets on safety and self-protection will be handed out in communities and public places, said the notice. 

Security lectures will be held in schools and education centers, and booklets on safety and self-protection will be handed out in communities and public places, said the notice.

The notice came after Zhang Zixin, a girl from a Hangzhou village, was taken away from her grandparents and murdered by two tenants in early July.

The tragedy could have been prevented if Zhang's grandparents were not credulous and did not agree to allow the couple, who they barely knew, to take the girl from home, netizens said. Zhang's parents broke up years ago. Her father is a migrant worker.

Wan Daqiang, a Beijing-based lawyer who specializes in child protection, said that "It is urgent and important to teach children self-protection and educate their de facto guardians."

Many left-behind children are not neglected intentionally, but their guardians may lack the proper knowledge and awareness of protecting them from harm, Wan said. 

Song Yinghui, a professor at Beijing Normal University, noted that the phenomenon of left-behind children is unlikely to change in the near future, so the government and society need to weigh in on left-behind children, who are not getting enough family care. 

Many villages have set up "home for left-behind children" where they can get care and psychological support. These institutions can maintain close cooperation with schools to guarantee that left-behind children are taken care of, Song said.   

Efforts from other regions have been introduced as Zhang's death has triggered wide concern about the safety of left-behind children.

Southwest China's Guizhou Province urged courts to take the initiative to offer more legal aid to left-behind children. Harsher punishment should be considered for crimes on these children, such as swindling and sexual assault, according to local newspaper Guiyang Evening News. 

College students are also joining. A campaign launched on July 10 in Beijing mobilized 3,800 students to accompany left-behind children during the summer vacation.  

The students are expected to tutor the children, play sports and read with them, and give lectures on legal knowledge and self-protection, Beijing-based newspaper China Women's News reported on July 11.  

By the end of 2018, China had around 6.97 million left-behind children, the Xinhua News Agency reported. Among them, about 96 percent are under the care of their grandparents, according to Xinhua.
Newspaper headline: Left-behind kids get more care