BEIJING — The number of registered volunteers in China has exceeded 190 million, according to statistics released by the Ministry of Civil Affairs (MCA) on Jan 25.

"China's voluntary services are booming," said Li Bo of the MCA at a press conference.

More than 14,000 volunteer organizations were registered in the country between 2016 and 2020, Li said.

The volunteers have rendered more than 2.5 billion hours of service in the last five years, Li added.

To improve volunteer services regulation in China, the MCA drew up a guideline for the issuing of certificates for voluntary services at the end of 2020.

According to the document, voluntary organizations, charities, primary-level people's organizations for self-governance, public interest activity organizers, and public service institutions are eligible for issuing voluntary service certificates.

The guideline will go into effect on Feb 1, 2021.