A medical worker collects a blood sample from a child on Friday at a city aid center in Shijiazhuang, Hebei province, during a campaign to aid child beggars. The blood sample will be used for a DNA test that could help return the boy to his family.

A special fund to provide long-term help for a nationwide crackdown on child begging will be set up in the near future, a prominent campaigner announced over the weekend.

Yang Peng, secretary-general of the Shenzhen-based One Foundation, announced on his sina.com.cn micro blog on Saturday that a dedicated fund will be established and affiliated to the charitable organization.

The rescue campaign "needs to be more sustainable and more organized, which demands management and money", Yang was quoted by Xinhua News Agency as saying.

The fund will help "transfer warm-hearted people's enthusiasm into sustainable aid", Yang wrote on his micro blog.

The move was announced after the development of the rescue campaign was discussed by more than 30 activists, including lawyers, scholars and celebrities, in Beijing on Saturday, according to the Xinhua report.

"We'll try to work out the details of this special fund including its missions and projects by March 8," Li Chengpeng, a critic and member of the preparatory committee of the fund, told China Daily on Sunday.

The fund will mainly sponsor child beggars returning to school, offer help to communities that receive the children, and provide basic financial support for volunteers participating in the campaign, Li said.