Anhui province has used new media to help 97 lost people find their way back home within the last six months, the Xinhua News Agency reports.
The provincial Department of Civil Affairs has cooperated with popular news app toutiao.com since last June to send precise location information regarding lost-and-found people to the app's large number of users, said Sun Bangping, Deputy Director General of the department.
Meanwhile, staff at rescue agencies in the province have been included into a WeChat group so that information can be shared in time.
Compared with publishing information in newspapers or on television, it is more efficient to find lost people with the help of new media, said Sun.
Among the 97 people who have been returned to their families, there is a woman who was abducted and trafficked when she was little, more than 29 years ago, and there are 9 people who suffer from Alzheimer's disease.
The new model has been promoted to other places around China, with more than two thousand rescue administrative centers joining the project.
