SWEET HOME: Foster children play in the Child Welfare Home in Yingshang County, east China's Anhui Province, on January 8. The former largest private adoption institution in China was transformed into a public facility in early 2012 (LIU JUNXI)

The provincial picture is no more cheerful. The Civil Affairs Department of Henan estimates between 50,000 and 80,000 children are born with disabilities in the province every year, with thousands of disabled infants abandoned annually. However, only 1,000 of these abandoned children were sent to government-run orphanages.

According to official figures, there are more than 5,600 orphans and children with disabilities in the almost full government-run child welfare institutions in Henan.

"The Lankao fire is not an isolated incident. Without a functioning child welfare system, tragedies are likely to happen in other places too," said Wang Zhenyao, a former civil affairs official who is now director of the One Foundation Philanthropic Research Institute at Beijing Normal University.

Child welfare laws and facilities, long established in other countries, are still lacking in China. They are a fundamental guarantee of child welfare and without them, child care is little more than a series of well-meant phrases, according to Wang.

A dearth of legislation is the main problem. "Only when enforceable laws are enacted will the authorities be able to help 'kindness mothers' such as Yuan," said Wang.

Insufficient input

The MCA said on January 6, 2013 that a month-long safety inspection of orphanages run by individuals and private operators will be carried out nationwide.

A ministry statement said that civil affairs authorities should mobilize local officials to collect information on the conditions of non-public adoption institutions, including unregistered ones.

If these facilities do not meet requirements, the children should be relocated to government-run child welfare institutions, said a ministry statement.

However, whether government-run institutions have the capacity to accommodate all children from unqualified facilities is still in doubt.

According to statistics provided by the MCA, China has some 615,000 orphans, a figure fluctuating year by year. Around 109,000 of these live in government-run child welfare institutions, with the rest being fostered by relatives or private orphanages.

Only 64 government-run child welfare institutions exist at the county level, the ministry said.

According to Child Welfare in China 2010, a report compiled by the MCA, UN International Children's Emergency Fund and the School of Social Development and Public Policy of Beijing Normal University, publicly funded child welfare facilities in China mainly accommodate orphans or deserted children found in cities, but orphans in the countryside have to rely on the support of relatives and rural collectives.

"The number of government-run orphanages is still far too small to meet the demand of able-bodied orphans, let alone those with congenital diseases, Wang said. "Non-public child welfare homes are a necessary support for adoption. However, without effective policies, sufficient investment and well-trained workers, it will be difficult to develop these institutions."