1. To implement the relevant national laws, regulations, rules, guidelines and policies on civil work; to study and draft the local laws and regulations related to the civil work; to draw development plans and policies for the civil administration; to organize the implementation of the relevant local laws, regulations, plans and policies.

2. In charge of social relief work of the city. To take the lead in making social assistance policies, standards and implementation measures; to improve the urban and rural social relief system; to organize and implement the urban and rural subsistence security system, medical assistance, temporary assistance, integrated community aid, and aid for vagrants and beggars with no means of living support.

3. In charge of the organization and coordination for disaster relief work. To organize construction of the emergency system for the natural disaster relief work; to organize verification, reporting and issuance of disaster; to organize and guide the work of disaster-relief donation; to receive, manage, distribute and supervise the relief funds and materials.

4. In charge of checking the economic condition of the local residents. To draw out items, standards and implementation measures for checking the economic condition of residents; to manage the residents’ economic condition checking work and guide the institution construction of the checking work; to study and analyze the economic condition of residents.

5. In charge of the preferential treatment and special-care allowance. To draw out the pension policies, standards and implementation measures; in charge of examination, submission for approval and praise for martyrs; in charge of the examination and approval issues including the disability rating appraisal of the disabled under the management of the Shanghai Civil Affairs Bureau; to guide the management work of the special-care institutions and the memorial building of revolutionary martyrs; in charge of the work of supporting the army and giving preferential treatment to the families of servicemen and martyrs.

6. In charge of accepting and settling the retired soldiers, demobilized cadres, retired military cadres and retirees without military status. To draw out resettlement policies, plans and implementation measures; to guide construction and administration of the service and management agencies for retired army cadres and the military-supply units.

7. In charge of the construction of the grass-roots political power and community of the city. To draw out ideas, suggestions and policies of the grass-roots political power and community construction; to promote the construction of the grass-roots democracy, to guide the construction of the grass-roots mass self-government, and to organize the election of community (village) residents' committees.

8. In charge of guiding the construction of the community service system. In coordination with relevant departments to draw out the community services policy; to promote the coordinated development of the urban and rural community service; to guide the voluntary community service activities, to organize the registration of community volunteers, and to supervise and evaluate the public community service projects.

9. In charge of the social welfare work. To draw out policies, standards and implementation to support the development of social welfare; in charge of the rescue work for orphans, guiding the protection of rights and interest of orphans; to guide the construction of various types of social welfare facilities and service management, and in charge of approval of foreign-related social welfare agencies; to promote home services for senior citizens.

10. In charge of promotion of the city charities. To draw out policies to promote philanthropy; to guide the charitable fund-raising activities and support and regulate the development of charitable organizations; to draw out policies to promote the voluntary service and commend volunteer organizations and volunteers with relevant departments.

11. In charge of the work concerning senior citizens. To draw out the senior-citizen affairs development planning and policies; to promote the implementation of regulations and policies related to the elderly; to guide and coordinate the work to protect rights and interests of the elderly.

12. In charge of the work concerning social workers. To promote the organization and management of social workers and their professionals with relevant departments. To draw out the system and policies of social work professionalization, and to promote the construction of professional personnel in social work; to guide and coordinate all fields to carry out the social work..

13. In charge of the protection of rights and interests of the handicapped. To draw out protection policies to support employment of the disabled; in charge of recheck on the urban severely-disabled persons listed into the basic medical insurance; in charge of identifying the qualification of the social welfare enterprises; in charge of identifying the qualification of the prosthetics orthotics production and assembly enterprises; in charge of examination on the duty-free import of goods for the disabled.

14. In charge of the welfare lottery management. To guide the issuance of welfare lottery; to manage the welfare-lottery sales markets with related departments; in charge of approving, regulating and appraising the financing projects of public funds from welfare lottery.

15. In charge of the work on administrative division. To research and revise the administrative division planning of the whole city; in charge of establishment, cancelation, adjustment, name and border change of towns and streets, and examination and submission for approval of the government site relocation; in charge of the management of the administrative boundaries; in charge of examination and submission for approval of administrative division names; to guide the establisment, cancelation, name-changing and naming of the community (village) residents' committees.

16. In charge of the management of the marriage registration and the adoption registration. To guide the marriage registration and the adoption registration of residents; in charge of the marriage registration and the adoption registration related to foreign residents, residents from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan and overseas Chinese; in charge of the management of matchmaking agencies; to advocate the reform of marriage customs.

17. In charge of the management of the funeral and interment. To draw out the policies and standards for funeral and interment; in charge of the examination and approval of construction and management of funeral and interment facilities; to promote the reform of funeral and interment.

18. In charge of coordinating the civil administrative enforcement. To undertake the administrative supervision and inspection, administrative punishment, acceptance of the administrative reconsideration and respondence to administrative litigation.

19. To undertake other issues assigned by the municipal government.