The central government has vowed to support the growth of non-profit volunteer service organizations (VSO) with financial and registration assistance. To encourage more VSOs to register, local authorities were asked to review their requirements, in terms of registered capital, full-time employee numbers and work place, according to a joint guideline issued by eight government departments Monday.

There are more than 180,000 VSOs, supported by over 66 million volunteers in China, while only 25,000 VSOs had registered with their local civil affairs authority, according to official statistics.

The guideline also called on local authorities to outsource social services to VSOs, including work related to poverty reduction, elderly care, disaster relief and medical assistance.