BEIJING -- China's government and non-governmental organizations received charitable donations of 54.2 billion yuan (about US$8.09 billion) last year, according to the latest report published here Friday.

The figure was far less than the 107 billion yuan of donations the country received in 2008, mainly because the year 2008 witnessed a serious earthquake in southwest China's Sichuan Province on May 12, 2008.

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Last year's donations consisted of 38.6 billion yuan in cash and 15.6 billion yuan in kind, said the report issued by the China Charity and Donation Information Center, a non-governmental organization that has long-researched the country's charity donations and issued annual reports since 2008.

The center monitored the donations received by the government's civil affairs departments, the country's two major charity groups, the Red Cross Society of China and China Charity Federation, and about 1,850 charity foundations.

According to the report, in 2009, a majority of donations went towards education, disaster relief and programs to help the needy.

In addition, the number of volunteers working for charity organizations exceeded 100 million in 2009, the report said.

The country now has more than 30,000 regular donating stations set up by both the government and non-governmental organizations, the report added.