International media regularly features horrific stories about Chinese orphanages, especially when debating international adoption and human rights. Much of the popular information is dated and ill-informed about the experiences of most orphans in China today, Chinese government policy, and improvements evident in parts of China. Informal kinship care is the most common support for the orphaned children. The state supports orphans and abandoned children whose parents and relatives cannot be found or contacted. The book explores concrete examples about the changing experiences and future...

This study applies rights-based alternative-care theory and practice for orphans to China's child-welfare system, including its history and development in urban and rural areas. It analyses state child-welfare institutions; de-institutionalization; foster-mother villages; and current policy changes toward a mixed welfare approach.