Unicef Places Numbers of Abandoned around 100,000 per year

Abandoned and Orphaned Children
Unicef

An estimated 100,000 Chinese children are abandoned each year, most of them disabled or girls. Some studies show this figure increasing. New laws have eased restrictions on domestic adoption, so more Chinese parents are adopting these children, and this is encouraging.

Evidence of neglect several years ago resulted in a significant effort by the government to improve conditions at China's Child Welfare Institutes (CWIs), and progress has certainly been made. China has adopted new policies and guidelines that promote de-institutionalisation in providing protection and care for abandoned children through family- and community-based approaches to child care, such as foster families. Even so, most abandoned children are still placed in CWIs, which basically function as orphanages.