China's Ministry of Civil Affairs will officially carry out the new regulation for family fostering children on the 1st of December. The new regulation, compared with the temporary one issued in 2003, expands the scope of the foster children and raises the threshold of the family wanting to foster a child.

The new regulation stipulates that every foster family can only accept a maximum of two foster kids, while not having their own child under six years old.

Under the current regulation, a family is allowed to foster three kids at most. The new regulations also classify "street" children or child beggars as foster kids.

According to the new regulations, if the foster family discriminates against or abuses a foster child, or illegally accumulates funds by taking foster kids under custody, or cannot continue to foster the children due to significant changes, the families are supposed to relinquish custody of the foster child or children.

Current issues for foster family in China

At present, most families applying to take in foster children are mainly from rural areas and the conditions in which the majority of these families live are not very good.

Zhang Zhenyue, an expert on issues facing foster children and families, explained why these families are in sub-par living situations:

"Currently, Chinese society still lacks the awareness of public service and not many families are willing to constantly raise foster children for a long period of time."

Zhang adds that, "The welfare institutions are also short of sufficient funds and man-power. The civil affair authority cannot allocate sufficient funds on the foster families after completing its major work."

Another major issue Zhang points out is the severe lack of professional training for the staff at child welfare institutions, which impedes on work in the foster-care system. Plus, the institutions themselves barely have enough professional medical staff and psychologists to service the foster children. Some non-governmental organizations and societal organizations contribute through volunteers or philanthropy, but they are not professionals and do not have the time or resources to continuously engage in helping these children.