BEIJING -- China has over 15,000 registered charity organizations, a three-fold increase compared to five years ago, the country's Ministry of Civil Affairs announced Wednesday.

A total of 2,062 charitable trusts have been registered with the government, 15 times the figure from five years ago, the ministry said at a press conference.

From 2018 to 2020, the critical period of China's poverty eradication campaign, the country's charity organizations spent approximately 50 billion yuan (about $7 billion) annually on poverty alleviation, especially on supporting people living in poverty in the country's less-developed areas, according to the ministry.

Since 2023, nearly 6 billion yuan worth of charitable donations have been raised to aid people affected by earthquakes, floods and other natural disasters across the country, the ministry said.