Yan spoke at a news conference on the exhibition and auction of 100 rare ceramics donated by Aixinjueluo Qimeng, a Manchu descendant of the imperial family of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).

The CCF president praised what has been done in Shanghai, where a “social aid fund" has been established. Poor families whose members have fallen victims to serious illnesses such as cancer and leukaemia, can get financial assistance.

The CCF could learn from Shanghai’s experience and set up a national fund of the kind to help more people in need of social aid, Yan said.

At the recent briefing, CCF officials made public an account on the use of over 100,000 yuan (US$12,048) for a 14-year-old Mongolian boy from north China.

The boy was found to have suffered from uraemia when he was very young. His mother took him to eight provinces and municipalities for medical treatment, but all the attempts to find a kidney donor failed.

Early this year, the mother and the boy went to the CCF for assistance. With the help of the federation, the local website, “ www.leyou.com", and many institutions and individuals, money was raised for transplanting a kidney for the boy at the Beijing Friendship Hospital.

The exhibition will be held at a local hotel September 5-6, while the auction will take place in Shanghai September 16.

All the proceeds from the show and the auction will go to the “ Charitable Orphan Project," a program initiated by the CCF this February.

Another three rare ceramics will also join the auction and the sales will also be donated to the orphan-assistance program.

According to Yan, China has some 100 orphans. There are 30,000 of them living in orphanages or other charitable institutions and 20,000 have been adopted by local or foreign families.

(Xinhua)