The Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Civil Affairs is a department responsible for civil affairs under the Shanghai Municipal People's Government. It holds the status of a regular-level bureau. It overlaps with the Shanghai Administration of Social Organizations.

Main responsibilities:

1. Implement laws, regulations, rules, guidelines, and policies related to civil affairs. Conduct research and draft local regulations and rules on civil affairs, formulate relevant policies and plans, and oversee their implementation.

2. Manage social assistance programs. Enhance urban and rural social assistance systems, organise and implement such programs as subsistence allowances for urban and rural residents, support for extremely poor individuals, living assistance for families facing poverty, temporary assistance, comprehensive community assistance, and relief and aid for the unhoused and panhandlers without means of support.

3. Check the financial conditions of residents. Develop standards for checking and formulate implementation measures. Manage relevant processes and provide guidance for the establishment of related organizations. Research and analyze residents' financial conditions.

4. Oversee social welfare initiatives. Provide guidance for the establishment and management of various social welfare facilities and services. Take on responsibilities for supporting and nurturing orphans, guide the support systems for orphaned and abandoned children, and facilitate the social integration of adult orphans. Take the lead in ensuring support for children living in challenging circumstances, and coordinate efforts to provide care and protection for children left behind in rural areas. Promote the implementation of rehabilitation and assistance systems for children with disabilities.

5. Manage services for the elderly. Promote the development of a comprehensive social service system for the elderly. Oversee and manage institutional, community-based, and home-based services for the elderly. Provide guidance for the establishment and management of service facilities for the aged, and offer assistance to elderly individuals facing particular difficulties.

6. Safeguard the rights and interests of people with disabilities. Implement the subsidy system for economically challenged individuals with disabilities, as well as the subsidy system for intensive care of individuals with severe disabilities. Oversee the review of incorporating individuals with severe disabilities into basic medical insurance in urban and rural areas. Promote the development of the rehabilitation assistive device industry. Manage centralized employment for people with disabilities according to the relevant division of tasks.

7. Take responsibility for charities' management and certification. Supervise and inspect charitable activities, and manage charitable fundraising activities in accordance with the law. Provide guidance for charitable industry organizations. Promote the disclosure and sharing of charitable information, and recognition of charitable contributions.

8. Assume the responsibilities for the development of grassroots political power and communities. Promote grassroots democracy and guide the establishment of grassroots self-governance mechanisms. Organise elections of residents' committees (or villagers' committees) in various districts. Spearhead the construction of community worker teams. Collaborate with relevant departments to advance the co-governance at sub-district and community levels. Provide guidance for the construction of community service systems, collaborate with relevant departments to develop community service policies, and lead the standardization of community service centres.

9. Take on responsibilities for work related to professional social workers and administrative management of volunteer services. Collaborate with relevant departments to nurture, develop, manage and provide services for professional social workers and their organizations, advance the construction of a pool of professional social workers, and guide and coordinate professional social work in various fields. Work with relevant departments to promote the development of volunteer teams.

10. Supervise the management of administrative divisions and their nomenclature. Evaluate and present proposals for approval regarding the creation, dissolution, modification, renaming, boundary adjustments and government relocations of villages, towns and sub-districts. Administer the demarcation of boundaries within administrative divisions. Scrutinize the names of administrative divisions and submit them for approval. Provide guidance on the establishment, dissolution, renaming, and nomenclature of residents' committees (or villagers' committees).

11. Assume the responsibilities and guidance for marriage and adoption registration. Manage marriage and adoption registration involving foreign residents, and residents from Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan, in addition to overseas Chinese. Promote reforms in marriage customs.

12. Assume the responsibilities for the management of funerals and burials. Champion reforms in funeral and burial practices, standardize the funeral industry, and oversee the supervision and management of funeral service providers.

13. Undertake the responsibilities for registration, management, cultivation, alteration, cancellation, supervision, and development of social organizations. Collaborate with relevant departments to provide them with guidance and services. Promote the standardized development and comprehensive management of social organizations and advance the construction of relevant credit systems. Assist social organizations in establishing their respective Party organizations. Provide guidance for the filing of mass activity teams and oversee the registration of social organizations involved in foreign affairs.

14. Manage welfare lotteries. Plan and approve the establishment of welfare lottery sales networks. Supervise sales by welfare lottery agents and announcements of lottery results. Manage and oversee the use of public funds generated by welfare lotteries.

15. Coordinate work related to social construction, including research, proposals and suggestions. Supervise and inspect relevant work and summarize and promote exemplary experiences.

16. Take on responsibilities for administrative law enforcement in civil affairs and the supervision of law enforcement. Organise investigations and enforcement in accordance with the law to address relevant cases of lawbreaking. Provide guidance, coordination, supervision, management and implementation of safety in civil affairs.

17. Perform other tasks assigned by the CPC Shanghai Municipal Committee and the Shanghai Municipal People's Government.

18. Functional transformation. The Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Civil Affairs should strengthen and improve urban and rural community governance. In terms of governance, it should enhance systems and levels, fill in gaps and improve community-level intelligence. It should promote the reform and modernization of social organization management systems, ensure the healthy and orderly development of social organizations. It should build a social welfare system that is compatible with the requirements of the new era, fully establish a "five-in-one" social-service system for the elderly that covers supply, guarantee, policy support, demand assessment and industry supervision of services, and further improve social welfare policies for certain groups, such as children and people with disabilities. It should improve the social assistance system, promote the legalization of social assistance work, vigorously develop charitable undertakings, and further consolidate the role of civil affairs in guaranteeing minimal living standards. It should build an efficient and convenient social service system, allowing civil affairs to be processed seamlessly in any district, completed on a dedicated website (shanghai.gov.cn), or achieved through a unified certificate. It should enhance funeral service reform and improve the quality of marriage and adoption services.

19. Share relevant responsibilities with the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Health. The Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Civil Affairs is responsible for coordinating, supervising, guiding, and managing services for the elderly, formulating local regulations, drafting laws, policies, plans, and standards for the construction of relevant service systems, and organizing implementation. It is responsible for the welfare of the elderly and provides special assistance to senior citizens facing specific difficulties. The Shanghai Municipal Commission of Health is responsible for formulating policy measures to address issues related to the aging population, and integrating medical and pension services. It coordinates, supervises, guides, organises, and promotes the overall development of care for the elderly, and undertakes work related to the prevention and treatment of diseases, and the provision of medical and mental health services for the elderly.