Dibao (Minimum Livelihood Guarantee / Zuidi Shenghuo Baozhang)
Dibao is China's national means-tested minimum livelihood guarantee, providing monthly cash top-ups to urban and rural households whose per-capita income falls below locally set poverty lines. Launched in Shanghai in 1993 and rolled out nationwide (urban by 1999, rural by 2007), it is the world's largest social assistance program by number of recipients. It is funded and administered jointly by central and local governments through the Ministry of Civil Affairs and local civil affairs bureaus, with payment amounts set to close the gap between household income and the local Dibao line. As of the end of 2024 it covered roughly 39.87 million people nationwide.
China, Government Welfare, Means-Tested, Largest Welfare Program by Coverage, Urban and Rural, National Poverty Line
Headquarters
- Organization Name
- Ministry of Civil Affairs of the People's Republic of China
- City
- Beijing
- State / Province
- Beijing
- Country
- China
Contact
- Website
- https://www.mca.gov.cn/
- Phone
- +86 10 5812 3148
Status & Funding
- Organization status
- Active
- Program status
- Active
- Application status
- Rolling
- Number of recipients
- 39,865,000
- Funding type
- Government
Benefits
- Currency Type
- Fiat
- Payment frequency
- Monthly
- Ongoing / unconditional
- Yes
- Distribution Type
- Direct deposit (bank transfer to recipient household accounts)
- Benefit details
Payments are not a flat amount; each qualifying household receives the difference between the local Dibao income line (set separately by each province/municipality and adjusted annually) and its own verified per-capita income, so amounts vary by region and household. As of end-2024 the national average urban Dibao standard was about 798.1 yuan per person per month and the national average rural Dibao standard was about 593.9 yuan per person per month. In some localities the program is bundled with categorical assistance for education, healthcare, and housing (a composite of unconditional and conditional transfers). Benefit levels are reviewed and adjusted by local governments, typically annually.
Eligibility
Overview
- Eligibility details
Eligibility is determined by local civil affairs bureaus based on household registration (hukou) in the jurisdiction where the applicant applies and a means test comparing per-capita household income (and often assets) against the locally set Dibao line. Households facing hardship due to unemployment, layoffs from state-owned enterprise restructuring, disability, old age, or lack of labor capacity make up a large share of recipients. Since China's targeted poverty alleviation campaign, Dibao has increasingly overlapped with categorical anti-poverty support, and recipients can include entire households or individual household members whose income/assets qualify.
Demographics
- Language
- Chinese (Mandarin)
Health
- Disability status
- Yes
Financial
- Employment status
- Unemployed, Underemployed, Gig / Informal
Citizenship
- Citizenship / immigration status
- Citizen
Geography
- Countries covered
- China
- Residency of Target Geography
- Yes
Participation
- Complementary program enrollment required
- Education subsidies, Healthcare/medical assistance, Housing subsidies (in some localities as part of composite poverty-alleviation support)
Application Process
- How to apply
Households apply through the civil affairs (民政) office of the township/subdistrict or village/neighborhood committee where their household registration (hukou) is held, submitting income, asset, and household composition documentation. Local officials conduct household income/asset verification (including home visits and cross-checks with other agencies), followed by a public announcement/publicity period for community input before final approval. Processing generally takes about 30 working days, extendable to around 45 working days for complex cases.
- Selection process
Local civil affairs bureaus verify submitted income and asset information against the municipally/provincially set Dibao line; if per-capita household income is below the line (and asset tests are met) and no objections arise during the public announcement period, the household is approved as a Dibao recipient and paid the difference between the local line and its assessed income. Eligibility is periodically re-verified and can be adjusted or terminated as household circumstances change.
