File photo: CGTN

GUANGZHOU, Dec. 13 (Xinhua) -- South China's Guangdong Province will improve basic services and social protection for de facto unsupported children by raising their cost of living allowances.

According to the provincial department of civil affairs, de facto unsupported children are those under 18 who have permanent residence in Guangdong, with both parents suffering from severe disability or illness, serving a prison sentence or compulsory drug withdrawal, or subjected to enforced restriction of personal freedom.

Children with a single living parent who also belongs to one of the above groups are also included within this category.

Every such child is expected to receive 1,110 yuan (about 159.3 U.S. dollars) a month starting from Jan. 1, 2020, equal to the amount received by unsettled orphans, more than double the figure from 2016 when the allowance system was launched in Guangdong.

The province, which currently has about 21,000 de facto unsupported children, called for more efforts on guardianship, medical treatment, education and care services for these children.