Report highlights increase in volunteer numbers

Almost half of local residents received help from volunteers in their communities last year, with the rate of volunteer registration increasing by 1.62 percentage points over 2017, the latest report on Shanghai's voluntary service shows.

The report was jointly issued by the city's spiritual civilization office, volunteer association and academy of social sciences, with nearly 8,000 local volunteers and more than 1,600 residents being surveyed.

According to the report, the rate of volunteer registration last year reached 16.6 percent, far more than 2009's 0.1 percent. Some 43 percent of volunteers said they will spend more time on voluntary work, while 53 percent said they perform about the same voluntary hours.

Last year over 46 percent of local residents said they had been helped by volunteers from their community voluntary service centers, seeing a rise of 30 percentage points over 2017.

With the growing influence of social media, some 46 percent of volunteers and 44 percent of residents learned information regarding voluntary services from online platforms like QQ and WeChat.

Over 80 percent of the surveyed volunteers and 78 percent of residents expressed an intention to volunteer at the China International Import Expo, followed by helping with traffic and garbage sorting events.

A quarter of the volunteers surveyed hope their voluntary work hours can be included in the social credit system, and more than 70 percent sought a safeguard mechanism in the city's regulations, something that is currently being researched and revised. The mechanism will cover funds, training, site construction, and evaluation and incentive systems.