The urban and rural subsistence allowance standards have been raised for 16 consecutive years, reaching 1,309 yuan per person per month in 2025, a 9.4% increase compared with 2022. Nursing-type beds in elderly care institutions account for over 94.94%, and the scale of the silver economy industry exceeds 340 billion yuan. A total of 59 social organizations have established pairing assistance relationships with 111 villages in the city, helping more than 52,000 needy families fulfill their “micro-wishes” since 2023. These concrete livelihood initiatives have written a heartwarming chapter for the development of civil affairs in Guangzhou.
Civil affairs work is closely tied to people’s livelihood and well-being, serving as a cornerstone and safety net for social development. Since the implementation of the “Project for High-quality Development of 100 Counties, 1,000 Towns and 10,000 Villages” (hereinafter referred to as the “100-1000-10000 Project”), Guangzhou has promoted coordinated urban-rural development in the field of civil affairs, built a tiered and categorized social assistance system, and solidly advanced national pilot programs for the integrated basic elderly care service platform and the innovation of county-level elderly care service systems. The city has also improved elderly care services, boosted the development of specialized affairs such as marriage, funeral and interment, and place names, and pooled social forces to support rural revitalization. These “livelihood commitments” have been transformed into tangible happiness for the people.
Strong Safety Net for Basic Livelihood Security
Nowadays, checking the “Suijiuyi” (Guangzhou Assistance Ease) platform has become a daily routine for civil affairs workers at Beijing Sub-district, Yuexiu District, Guangzhou. The migration of assistance information from paper files to the cloud has made social assistance more timely. In recent years, Guangzhou has developed the “Suijiuyi” service brand, leveraging data empowerment and smart assistance to shift the paradigm of social assistance from “people seeking policies” to “policies reaching people”, ensuring more targeted and accurate basic livelihood security.
The robust safety net has laid a solid foundation for people’s happy lives. Guangzhou has constructed a tiered and categorized social assistance system, bringing approximately 106,000 vulnerable individuals and special groups under the dynamic monitoring and assistance coverage. With the urban and rural subsistence allowance standard raised to 1,309 yuan per person per month in 2025, the city’s comprehensive assistance and security level ranks among the top in China.
To ensure precise delivery of assistance services, Guangzhou has established 67 integrated “Suijiuyi · Gongzhu Space” (Guangzhou Assistance Ease · Mutual Support Space) service platforms, forming a four-level “mutual support” network connecting the city, districts, towns/sub-districts, and villages/communities, thus bridging the “last mile” for needy groups to access assistance services.
Guangzhou has also promoted the application of an AI-based consultation model for civil affairs assistance, developed a low-income population assistance module covering 40+ monitoring indicators across 8 dimensions, and built a full-cycle service system of “demand – command – processing – feedback” for assisting vulnerable groups. In collaboration with power supply, fire protection, urban management and other departments, the city has launched a series of “Safeguarding Livelihood” projects such as “Powering People’s Livelihood” and “Benefiting People’s Livelihood”, providing real-time protection for the home safety of needy families.
Protecting the healthy growth of children in difficult circumstances is a crucial part of strengthening the livelihood safety net. Guangzhou has placed over 20,000 children in vulnerable situations under full dynamic management, implementing targeted protection and care services based on their individual circumstances. Since the beginning of this year, municipal and district-level authorities have visited nearly 9,000 households involving 12,000 person-times of children in need, fulfilled more than 2,000 “micro-wishes”, and organized nearly 1,000 care activities benefiting 130,000 person-times.
Heartfelt Services for the People
“Previously, cooking alone at home felt like a hassle. Now, I can have a hot and nutritious meal at the canteen for just over ten yuan.” Every noon, Aunt Chen arrives punctually at the Senior Canteen of Guanghe Community, Tianhe South Sub-district in Guangzhou. The dishes here not only suit her taste but also make her feel the long-missed vibrancy of community life.
The “small meal bowl” is closely linked to the “big livelihood”. In Guangdong Province, the construction of senior canteens has been included in the supervision items of the “100-1000-10000 Project”. Behind every “hot meal” lies Guangzhou’s continuous efforts to improve its elderly care service system.
Guangzhou has improved the four-point linkage rural elderly care service network consisting of “Yikang Centers + Senior Canteens + Nursing Homes + N Village-level Service Stations”, with 177 Yikang Centers, 2,683 Yikang Service Stations, and 1,395 Senior Canteens covering both urban and rural areas. For rural regions, multiple service models have been adopted, such as regional mobile meal delivery vehicles, neighborhood mutual assistance, group meal-sharing among households, and centralized food distribution, thus connecting the “last kilometer” of rural meal assistance services.
The city has promoted the transformation and upgrading of rural nursing homes across the municipality, explored rural mutual elderly care models including “Neighborhood Mutual Assistance” and the “3-in-1 Model” (one support network, one supporting institution, one service team). It has also launched a series of smart elderly care application scenarios such as “One-stop Service”, “Elderly Care Map”, and “Home Water and Electricity Anomaly Monitoring”. In addition, the “Ten Measures for the Silver Economy” have been issued, and events like the “Happy Yangcheng” Silver Age Market and Home Aging Adaptation Renovation Campaign have been held. These initiatives work together to safeguard the golden years of the elderly.
Specialized affairs such as marriage and funeral services are closely related to people’s daily lives. Guangzhou has successfully completed the tasks of the national marriage custom reform pilot zone, built China’s first Wedding Town, and established 66 “Huacheng Youxi” (Beautiful Guangzhou with Joy) outdoor wedding registration spots. The city has continued to carry out activities such as “Huacheng Youai” (Beautiful Guangzhou with Love) marriage and family counseling services and the promotion of marriage custom reform in villages and communities. It is also comprehensively advancing the construction of a high-quality funeral and interment development demonstration zone in the province to support the building of “beautiful countryside”. The city’s eco-friendly burial rate has reached 90.5%, ranking among the highest in China. Furthermore, Guangzhou has deepened the “Famous Villages Initiative”, continuously conducting surveys, naming, and signposting of rural place names, comprehensively collecting rural toponymic information, and promoting rural place name culture. To date, 100% of villages (communities) in the city have completed the special tasks under this initiative.
Extensive Participation from All Sectors
In Nanchi Village, Zhongxin Town, Zengcheng District of Guangzhou, the Guangzhou Dade Social Work Service Center has linked up with universities to organize college student volunteers to teach villagers e-commerce sales skills. The initiative guides villagers to use new media platforms for product promotion and brand building, enhancing the visibility and influence of the local carambola brand.
Social organizations are important forces in advancing livelihood development and supporting the “100-1000-10000 Project”. Guangzhou has carried out the “100 Social Organizations Partnering with 100 Villages – Supporting the 100-1000-10000 Project” campaign, establishing a pairing assistance platform for social organizations. A total of 59 social organizations have established cooperative relationships with 111 villages in the city.
The Guangzhou Social Organization Federation has launched initiatives to support rural revitalization, leveraging its role as a hub platform to connect resources. The Guangzhou Baiyun Hengfu Social Work Service Center has focused on rural services, creating visualized cultural and creative products centered on roof tiles by empowering the transformation of old rural items. The Guangzhou Agricultural Means of Production Industry Association has organized pesticide safety training programs in various districts to support rural ecological protection and environmental governance.
Social organizations across the city have leveraged their unique strengths to participate in the “100-1000-10000 Project” and contribute to rural revitalization. Since 2023, over 260 social organizations in Guangzhou have implemented 1,949 assistance projects in targeted areas within the province, with a total input of over 4.1 billion yuan in funds, materials, and services.
Community charity serves as a warm force for grassroots governance. Guangzhou has built 13 charity supermarket demonstration sites, and 3,011 community charity funds have raised more than 190 million yuan to support community development and construction.
The city has also launched a series of charitable brand projects, including the “Shanmei 100-1000-10000” Guangzhou Community Charity Micro-grant Program, the “Safe Home Program” for home micro-renovation, and “Micro-wishes · Warm Families”, mobilizing social love and resources to support the “100-1000-10000 Project”.
Livelihood matters, no matter how small, are always close to people’s hearts. A responsible person from the Guangzhou Civil Affairs Bureau stated that moving forward, the bureau will focus on the five-year goal of achieving remarkable progress under the “100-1000-10000 Project”, base its work on the core responsibilities of civil affairs, accelerate the implementation of various targets and tasks, continuously improve the level of urban and rural civil affairs public services, and enhance people’s well-being.
Case Study: The Livelihood Warmth Behind “Smart Smoke Detectors”
Beep beep beep… Not long ago, a smart smoke detector at a social assistance housing complex in Huadu District, Guangzhou, suddenly triggered an alarm. Upon receiving the alert, the fire protection platform immediately notified the on-duty personnel and the contact person of the housing complex, while the “Suijiuyi” system sent an alarm reminder to civil affairs workers. After verification, the alarm was caused by multiple people smoking indoors, and there was no actual fire hazard.
This small smart smoke detector is part of Guangzhou’s citywide smart assistance network, delivering heartfelt warmth to the people. To advance the pilot program of service-based social assistance, the Guangzhou Civil Affairs Bureau, in collaboration with the Guangzhou Charity Federation and local enterprises, has provided free installation of the “smart smoke detection system” for residents of social assistance housing complexes in Huadu, Conghua, Zengcheng and other districts. The system is connected to the “Ping’an Suiyue” (Safe Guangdong and Guangzhou) Smart Fire Protection Supervision Platform and the “Suijiuyi” intelligent system, utilizing advanced technologies such as modern communication, intelligent calling, and the Internet of Things, combined with 24/7 manual on-duty services, to safeguard the home safety of needy groups.
The Guangzhou Civil Affairs Bureau has also partnered with power supply, gas, tap water and other enterprises to build a big data model for real-time monitoring of abnormal electricity, gas and water consumption in the homes of needy families. This invisible safety net operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, enabling early warning and detection of safety risks. Meanwhile, the bureau has guided all districts to develop district-level brands such as “Ruyuan Action” (Wish Fulfillment Action), “Caring Assistance for Needy Groups”, and “Micro-wishes” to meet the diverse service needs of vulnerable populations.
By the end of November this year, through the pilot program of service-based social assistance, Guangzhou has provided more than 70,000 person-times of diversified services to needy groups, including health monitoring, social integration, psychological counseling, and employment enhancement.
From smart terminals at people’s doorsteps to a citywide warm network, these initiatives have woven a stronger and more resilient safety net for basic livelihood security. A responsible person from the Guangzhou Civil Affairs Bureau stated that the bureau will further improve the “mutual support” network for social assistance and build a tiered and categorized social assistance system with Guangzhou characteristics, featuring government leadership, social participation, sound institutions, policy coordination, and strong basic support.
