A nurse checks a resident's blood pressure during a public awareness event on May 27, 2025, in Shushan District, Hefei, Central China's Anhui Province, as part of a social assistance awareness campaign. Photo: VCG

The draft law on social assistance that is designed to ensure basic living support for people in need was submitted on Tuesday to the ongoing session of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, the national legislature, for its first reading, according to the Xinhua News Agency.

A senior expert commented Tuesday that the legislation to improve social assistance system holds profound significance considering 2014 Interim Measures for Social Assistance operates at a relatively low legislative level and fails to adequately address disadvantaged groups' demands. This legislative advancement marks significant progress in narrowing income disparities and promoting social equity, according to the expert.

According to Xinhua, the draft consists of 7 chapters and 76 articles, covering general provisions, eligible recipients and forms of assistance, application procedures, participation of social forces, management and services, legal liabilities, and supplementary provisions.

The draft expands the scope of social assistance and strengthens its role as a safety net for those in need. In addition to existing recipients such as extremely impoverished individuals and families eligible for subsistence allowances, it includes near-subsistence families and families facing hardship. Different categories of recipients will receive tailored support, including basic living assistance, specialized social assistance and emergency relief. 

It calls for primary-level authorities to actively monitor the living conditions of residents and to provide timely assistance in accordance with the law.

The draft simplifies verification procedures, allowing local authorities at the county level to legally verify applicants' income and assets. Once approved, the recipient's information will be shared and mutually recognized among relevant departments to avoid redundant reviews.

The draft also calls for establishing and enhancing mechanisms to encourage broader participation of citizens, legal entities and other organizations in providing social assistance, Xinhua reported.

According to Xinhua, Minister of Civil Affairs Lu Zhiyuan delivered an explanation on the draft, saying that China has now largely established a fully functional social security system, with social insurance at its core, complemented by social assistance, social welfare, and special care for entitled groups. However, with economic and social development, new challenges have emerged in social assistance, including difficulties in coordination, narrow coverage, cumbersome procedures and insufficient participation of social forces. To strengthen the social assistance system and reinforce the safety net for people's livelihoods, the enactment of the social assistance law is necessary to advance the maturity and standardization of China's social assistance framework.

As illustrated by the "barrel effect," a society's stability hinges not on its strongest elements but on its weakest links, Yu Shaoxiang, research fellow at the National Academy of Chinese Modernization, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), told the Global Times on Tuesday.

"This legislative advancement marks significant progress in narrowing income disparities and promoting social equity," Yu said.

The expert pointed out the chronic imbalance in urban-rural development poses persistent challenges for social assistance. To address this deficiency, central and local authorities should substantially boost rural social security funding. 

Yu recommends legally mandating minimum annual fiscal allocation ratios for social assistance and security programs.

Also, the expert emphasized that legislation should explicitly require local governments to proactively engage non-governmental actors, fostering a culture of mutual support. While Article 24 of China's Public Welfare Donations Law provides corporate income tax benefits for qualifying charitable donations, the current application process for tax exemptions is notoriously complex and cumbersome, hindering broader societal participation, according to Yu.

For eligible recipients of subsistence allowances, we should establish robust mechanisms including regular dynamic assessments, adjustment of subsidy levels and clear exit protocols to prevent long-term welfare dependency, the expert noted.

Yu also called on localities to leverage big data and AI technologies to enhance efficiency in identifying beneficiaries and distributing funds.