The Red Cross Society of China has launched a charity campaign called "Philanthropic Messenger", under which 10 million yuan ($1.63 million) will be used mainly to help underprivileged children left behind by their parents or suffering major diseases in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, the Tibet autonomous region and in Yunnan, Guizhou and Gansu provinces.

Previous reports said China has more than 610 million left-behind children in rural areas whose parents went to cities in search of better job opportunities and pay.

The funding for the latest Red Cross project came from a mobile donation outlet under the Red Cross where the public can donate via text messages, according to Song Yi, head of the society's general office.