More than 80,000 disabled orphans have undergone surgery and rehabilitation over the past decade thanks to a welfare project, Minister of Civil Affairs Li Liguo said.

Some 18,000 disabled orphans were adopted by domestic or overseas families after convalescence from surgery, Li said on June 16 at a conference about the Tomorrow Project, a program initiated in 2004 by his ministry.

The project is mainly funded by China's welfare lottery and has received over 50 million yuan ($8.03 million) worth of donations from people of all circumstances, according to Li.

Li vowed to push forward the project and expand its focus from surgery to general medical treatment and to extend its coverage to sick and disabled children from needy families.