BEIJING, March 22 (Xinhua) -- The number of professional social workers in China rose to 760,000 as of November last year, up from 200,000 in 2006, the Ministry of Civil Affairs has said.

China has had over 30,000 social service graduates each year since 2006 and provided roughly 300,000 people with training opportunities annually, the ministry said in a statement.

Professional social services have extended to mental health, elder care and drug prevention and treatment in communities and townships, it said.

The ministry said China aims to cultivate 1.45 million social workers to ensure there will be at least one social worker for each urban community and township by 2020.

China will have 10,000 professional social service agencies by 2020, it added.