Children represent the future force in building a strong nation and rejuvenating the Chinese nation. During the past 45 years, under the leadership of the All-China Women's Federation (ACWF), the China Children and Teenagers' Fund (CCTF) has stayed true to its original aspiration of nurturing talents for the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the country, advancing the cause of children and teenagers, promoting their all-round development, and creating more opportunities for them to enjoy a better life on an equal footing.
Drawing the kindness and goodwill of people from all social sectors, the CCTF has built a portfolio of iconic public welfare programs, which include the Spring Bud Project, Ankang Program, Happy Home for Children and HELLO Kids. To date, the CCTF has raised nearly 8 billion yuan (about $1.18 billion) in public donations, benefiting nearly 80 million children across the country.
Commitment to Girls' Empowerment and Educational Equity
The CCTF, the first national-level public fund-raising foundation in China, was established in 1981. It has always attached great importance to the assistance of girls' education and their all-round development.
In the 1980s, the problem of girls dropping out of school was prominent in impoverished areas. In 1989, the Spring Bud Project was formally launched. The Hong Yao Girls Class in Rongshui, a county in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, became the earliest pilot site.
Over the past decades, the Spring Bud Project has evolved far beyond supporting girls in compulsory education. It has expanded to multiple fields such as high-school and university scholarships, occupational training for teachers, vocational skills development, adolescent health education and companionship for rural left-behind girls, delivering benefits to 4.55 million girls in total.
"I was so lucky to be in the first Hong Yao Girls Class. Now, I'm proud to return to my alma mater as a teacher, passing on the love to more children in the mountains," said Dai Yingmei, who became a teacher at Baiyun Township Central School in 2011. She is committed to spreading the warmth that she had received and promoting the development of more girls through education.
Countless Spring Bud girls from mountainous areas have grown up to become teachers, doctors, grassroots officials, and role models in poverty alleviation, embodying the spirit of self-reliance, kindness and the pursuit of a better life. They have contributed greatly to the nation's fight against poverty and helped break the cycle of inter-generational poverty.
In recent years, the CCTF has deepened the implementation of the Spring Bud Project — Dream of Future Action, enriched the content of assistance, strengthened guidance and educational support for girls, and rolled out multiple measures for their healthy and all-round development.
The CCTF has exerted comprehensive efforts in the education for all-round development. The Spring Bud InnoGirls program has provided AI and digital intelligence courses to over 10,000 girls, helped them excel in various kinds of high-level sci-tech innovation competitions, and supported the organization of high-level mathematics contests for girls in a drive to stimulate their enthusiasm for mathematics learning and cognitive potentials.
It has established 60 Spring Bud Dream Choruses, brought more than a hundred girls to shine their artistic talent in national and international stages through professional training and systematic choral education, and organized girls to attend national-level painting and calligraphy contests.
Meanwhile, it has advanced sports empowerment and education assistance. For instance, the Spring Bud Girls' Healthy Growth Project has helped more than 35,000 girls nationwide gain confidence from sports participation through scholarships, material support and growth empowerment.
The CCTF has regularly carried out programs and activities focused on the health and psychological needs of adolescent girls. It has organized thematic classes and growth camps under the Spring Bud Companionship Program to send care and warmth to over 300,000 girls. Apart from bringing adolescent health education into campus, it has built numerous girls-friendly growth venues under the Spring Bud Gas Station and the Spring Bud Aerospace Dream-Building initiatives, which benefit approximately 500,000 girls and families.
In 2023, the Spring Bud Project received the UNESCO Prize for Girls' and Women's Education. In 2024, it was honored as one of the best poverty reduction practices during the 5th Call of Global Solicitation on Best Poverty Reduction Practices Campaign at the 2024 International Seminar on Global Poverty Reduction Partnerships, offering the world Chinese solutions to poverty alleviation through education and girls' empowerment.
The CCTF has undertaken "Small and Beautiful" girls' education cooperation project in Nepal and Cambodia and launched international Spring Bud choruses to build bridges for international charity exchanges and share with the world Chinese wisdom in advancing women's and children's development.
Target Children's Diverse Demands, Build Comprehensive Care and Protection Network
In Xiawangzhuang Village of Tengzhou, a city of east China's Shandong Province, women volunteers at a Happy Home for Children taught children about how to mold colorful clay. The children made their clay figures in high spirits.
For the past 45 years, the CCTF has responded to the diverse needs of children, gathered love of all sectors of society and taken precise measures in caring for rural left-behind children and children living in difficulties, protecting children's health and promoting family education.
The CCTF has operated more than 1,500 Happy Homes for Children nationwide and established over 800 Sunshine Stations with financial aids from the Central Special Lottery Public Welfare Fund in nine provincial regions to carry out activities such as child protection, mental health education and family education, thus building a stable and reliable care service platform for about 400,000 children, including those whose parents work away from home.
The Heng'ai Action has collected over 495 tons of wool and donated more than 1.55 million hand-knitted sweaters to children in border and less-developed regions. The Guarding Childhood, Growing Up Together program has mobilized college student volunteers to care for and accompany nearly 50,000 children in need during summer and winter holidays. The Achieving Dream of Future with Infinite Possibilities program has supported 11 girls' sports teams, encouraging children to pursue excellence. And the Building Bridges of Love program has provided scholarships and adolescent health care to nearly 25,000 students.
The CCTF has paid great attention to children's health and safety, distributed HELLO Kids nutritional packages to children, and organized health literacy workshops to help children and teenagers build good habits. The Life Care program has improved the legal awareness and mental well-being of about 2.2 million children and families. Medical and rehabilitation support have also reached children with illnesses, and families of children with autism have received financial assistance.
Family education service system has been comprehensively upgraded. The number of registered users of the online platform of New Parents Academy (National Online Parents' School) has exceeded 1.8 million. The Happy Families — 1,000-Day Health Action for Mothers and Infants has provided prenatal and neonatal care guidance to 2.58 million families with pregnant, lying-in women and newborns. The rural maternal-infant nutrition improvement program has benefited 250,000 rural families with mothers and infants. And 160,000 families have participated in the parent-child public welfare activities organized by the China Youth Volunteer Academy, nurturing a culture of kindness and shared values.
Initiate Emergency Response, Innovate Fundraising Model
The long-term and sustained development of charitable projects relies on the persistent support of social forces. Over the past 45 years, more than 15,000 charity-minded enterprises and organizations have donated fund and materials to the CCTF to convey social responsibility. In the "Internet plus charity" era, the general public participates in children's public welfare through online channels. People from all sectors of society, relying on the CCTF's public welfare platforms, work together to safeguard the growth of children and teenagers.
In the face of various disasters like pandemics, earthquakes and floods, the CCTF has responded quickly and established efficient emergency mechanisms for children. To date, it has raised over 662 million yuan (about US $97.35 million) in emergency relief, delivering aid and warmth to disaster-affected children and families nationwide. After the deadly residential building fire in Hong Kong Special Administrative Region in November 2025, the CCTF immediately set up a special assistance channel and worked with the All-China Women's Federation Hong Kong Delegates Association to offer post-disaster assistance and care for children and their families.
From helping children in difficulties, safeguarding children's health and safety to cultivating well-rounded socialist builders and successors, the CCTF has strived to shoulder the responsibility of promoting the all-round development of children in the new era.
The CCTF has adhered strictly to the Charity Law and relevant laws and regulations, and ensured every donation is managed and used properly. It has continuously improved project management systems and external supervision mechanisms, adhered to the principle of openness, fairness and transparency, and strengthened the whole process of project planning, implementation and operation. Meanwhile, it has expanded public participation channels and continuously enhanced children's sense of fulfillment, happiness and security.
Standing at the new starting point, the CCTF will remain committed to the fundamental mission of fostering virtue through education, address the needs of children and families, bring warmth to more children, and help them grow into good young people of the new era who have lofty ideals, dare to shoulder responsibilities, and work hard.
(Source: CCTF/Women of China)
Editor: Wang Shasha
