SHENZHEN Social Work Institute, the first of its kind for social service in China, was established at the Shenzhen City College on Wednesday.

    The institute is a result of a three-year effort and preparation jointly by the Shenzhen Social Workers Association, Shenzhen Charity Foundation and Shenzhen Innovation Enterprise Social Responsibility Promotion Center.

    It will be a training base for high-end professionals in social service, a platform for projects of public good.

    Zhang Bigong, former president of Shenzhen University, was hired as the president of the institute. Zhang stepped down as Shenzhen University president in 2012 at age 62.

    Lu Xiaowen, secretary general with the Shenzhen Social Workers Association, was appointed an executive vice president of the institute.

    Wang Jinhua, chief of the social service division of the public affairs bureau, said at Wednesday’s unveiling ceremony that they will make great efforts to build the institute into a State-level training base for social workers.

    The institute will offer courses regarding cooperation mechanism of social service with the city government and social capital. At the same time it will serve as an incubator for some social service projects and help train professional social workers.

    By May this year, the city has 6,000 social workers working at 135 social service agencies and 500 community social work centers.

    The community services cover 14 fields, including elder care, juvenile mentoring, helping the physically challenged, drug rehabilitation support and legal help.

    (Han Ximin)