China had about 702,000 social organizations as of the end of 2016, according to data released by the Ministry of Civil Affairs Thursday.

The organizations include 336,000 social groups and associations, 5,559 foundations and 361,000 private non-enterprise organizations.

As of the end of last year, social organizations nationwide had over 7.63 million employees, up by 3.9 percent from the previous year.

In 2016 authorities investigated 2,363 cases of social organization-related violations, closing illegal organizations in 16 cases and handing down punishments in 2,347 cases, it said.

In China, private non-enterprise organizations generally include schools, hospitals, elderly-care centers and museums.