BEIJING — About 4.13 million people have registered for a number of volunteer positions in Beijing as of the end of last year, 2.43 million more than ten years ago.
The registered volunteers had donated more than 225 million hours of services by the end of last year, said Li Lei, deputy secretary-general of the Beijing Volunteer Service Federation, at a gathering held Wednesday to acknowledge the volunteers’ contributions during the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.
Chinese volunteer services started a new phrase in 2008. Statistics showed that more than 1.1 million people submitted applications to volunteer for the games in 2008 and 100,000 volunteers provided direct services for the Olympics and Paralympics.
Voluntary services include community service, medical care, firefighting, and emergency rescue, among others.
“Their excellent services had won both recognition and friendship,” said the federation, adding that it is working with the municipal youth league and local authorities to promote the volunteer work for the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games.