China’s economy is going through tough times, leading to a rise in homeless beggars across the country. Recently, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) introduced a law amendment to change the term “wandering beggars” to “scattered individuals.” Analysts believe that this move reflects the collapse of CCP’s lies about achieving complete poverty alleviation and building a moderately prosperous society. Some lawyers have expressed concerns that by simply renaming them, the physical presence of homeless beggars might be erased, leaving them vulnerable to being trafficked or even becoming sources for organ trafficking.
On April 24, the Legislative Affairs Commission of the National People’s Congress of the CCP held a press conference to introduce the proposed revisions to the “Social Assistance Law,” which includes changing the wording of “wandering beggars” to “scattered individuals.”
Following the CCP’s establishment, a policy of forcibly detaining and repatriating rural migrants who flooded into cities was implemented, labeling them as “blind drifters” (rural migrants who blindly moved into cities). In 1982, the State Council of the CCP issued the “Measures for the Detention and Repatriation of Urban Wandering Beggars,” defining vagrants as “wandering beggars,” a term that has been used since then.
In recent times, there have been numerous online videos showing a large influx of rural migrant workers into cities who, unable to find employment for extended periods, end up homeless on the streets, becoming vagrants.
Against the backdrop of a weak domestic demand and a grim employment situation in China, the CCP has resorted to renaming “wandering beggars.” In response to this, Wu Shaoping, the head of an overseas human rights lawyer alliance, stated in an interview with Dajiyuan that the CCP has built itself on deceiving the people through wordplay and manipulating public opinion. The renaming of wandering beggars to scattered individuals in the Social Assistance Law is a reflection of the significant economic problems facing China, with a large number of people becoming unemployed and resulting in the increase of wandering beggars in urban areas. This has led the CCP’s “bright economic theory” to bankruptcy, prompting them to engage in linguistic manipulation once again.
A media chief editor and former founder of an NPO in Shenzhen, Ai Shicheng, told Dajiyuan that the true motive behind the CCP’s renaming of homeless individuals is twofold. First, it is for propaganda purposes, by replacing the negatively connotated and long-associated term “wandering beggars” with the neutral term “scattered individuals,” aiming to downplay the “systemic problem.”
Secondly, it is a cover-up for the economic issues, attributing the existence of vagrants to high unemployment rates, weak domestic demand, and decreased job opportunities. By renaming them, the authorities are essentially denying the increase in “wandering beggars,” aligning with the narratives of the “bright economic theory” and “common prosperity.”
Jielijian, the chairman of the China Democratic Party International Alliance, told Dajiyuan that the CCP’s renaming of wandering beggars to scattered individuals is a verbal cover-up for the economic collapse and the demise of the so-called comprehensive poverty alleviation and moderately prosperous society lies.
After the news of changing “wandering beggars” to “scattered individuals” spread, Chinese netizens overwhelmingly mocked the decision. Some sarcastically praised officials for their “exceptional ability in choosing words,” while others suggested more fitting alternatives like “waiting-for-wealth individuals” for a more upscale feel. The renaming generated various humorous comments suggesting the eradication of beggars through this change.
Jielijian stated that with the increasing number of homeless individuals, not only disabled people rely on begging for survival but also many young people carrying their luggage in search of work end up on the streets due to the lack of job opportunities. The train stations and bus terminals have become places where they sleep. The public is aware of these realities, and under the CCP’s internet censorship, they resort to mocking the authorities in a light-hearted manner.
“If you don’t address the economic issues, if you don’t handle the problems, instead choosing to focus on verbal gymnastics, it will only generate more resentment,” he said.
In June 2025, the CCP’s Ministry of Civil Affairs claimed that traditional wandering beggars were gradually decreasing, with temporary distressed individuals becoming the main recipients of services. In the past year, civil affairs departments and relief agencies have provided assistance to 709,000 individuals in temporary distress, assisting 4,051 missing persons in returning to their families in 2024.
On December 31, 2025, the CCP’s Ministry of Civil Affairs reported assisting 625,000 individuals in destitution, including wandering beggars, that year.
Wu Shaoping stated that the CCP has never disclosed statistical data on wandering beggars, only the numbers of those supposedly assisted. Those claimed to have received assistance are evidently just a fraction of the total homeless population.
The “China Missing Persons White Paper (2020)” released in February 2021 revealed that the number of missing persons per year from 2016 to 2020 was no less than one million, reaching a peak of 3.26 million in 2016, with all relevant data disappearing after 2021. The CCP has not publicized comprehensive and transparent annual statistics on missing persons.
Wu Shaoping pointed out that compared to being renamed, the disappearance of wanderers is even more frightening. After being taken to relief stations by street officials, they may inexplicably end up dead, with the stations potentially turning into sites for human trafficking due to their lack of transparency and limited societal oversight.
From 1961 to 2003, the CCP implemented the system of detainment and repatriation, leading to the fatal beating of 27-year-old Hubei resident Sun Zhigang by personnel in Guangzhou in 2003. Under public pressure, the CCP abolished the detention system that year, renaming all former detention and repatriation centers as relief stations.
Recently, a video alleging that at least several thousand people have died or gone missing at the Zhangmutou Detention Center in Dongguan City, Guangdong Province, suddenly went viral on Chinese social media platforms before being censored.
Wu Shaoping emphasized that past detention centers were plagued with various heinous acts, including a significant number of missing and deceased individuals. However, the change to relief stations from detention centers does not alter the nature of such facilities. Since the CCP has never held responsible those accountable for the disappearances and deaths under the previous system, the shift merely involves a change in the name, with the same staff operating there. It’s just a change in appearance rather than substance.
He questioned the fate of the many homeless individuals forcibly taken to relief stations by street officials, urban management personnel, or police officers. Whether they are truly sent back home or end up being victims of human trafficking, such as being sold to illegal brick kilns or becoming part of a human organ repository, remains unknown.
In March 8, 2026, Guangzhou resident Gao Fei sent an “Urgent Initiative” to the offices of the Legislative Affairs Committee of the National People’s Congress, the State Council, the Ministry of Public Security, the National Supervisory Committee, and the National Health Commission of the CCP, demanding a comprehensive review and temporary suspension of organ transplant operations. Related petition activities faced suppression from the CCP authorities.
Jielijian revealed that there have been cases where young people sought help at relief stations, hoping to purchase tickets to return home but ended up being detained and experiencing indirect torture. Relief stations have been implicated in embezzlement, such as falsely reporting the number of people receiving assistance, with one person turning into twenty, and the funds being distributed among station staff.
In recent years, scandals have been emerging from the CCP’s social assistance stations. In 2015, Wang Zhiqiang, a 13-year-old (reportedly 9 years old in another account) boy from Xinyang, Henan Province, was beaten and starved to death at a relief station in Xinyang. In 2016, a case of abuse of homeless children was reported at a relief station in Shenzhen. Due to official information blackouts, more cases remain undisclosed.