The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council: Deepen the reform and development of elderly care services, vigorously develop elderly care finance, and study the establishment of relevant national major science and technology projects

On January 7th, Tuesday, according to Xinhua News Agency, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council issued the "Opinions on Deepening the Reform and Development of Elderly Care Services," hereinafter referred to as the "Opinions."

The "Opinions" pointed out that by 2029, the elderly care service network will be basically established, service capacity and level will be significantly enhanced, and noticeable progress will be made in expanding, upgrading, and improving efficiency, with the basic supply of elderly care services continuously optimized; by 2035, the elderly care service network will be more complete, the supply and demand of services will be more coordinated and adapted, all elderly people will enjoy basic elderly care services, and a mature and defined elderly care service system suitable for China's national conditions will be established.

The key points of the summary are as follows:

Vigorously develop elderly care finance. The "Opinions" proposed to support the construction of elderly care service infrastructure that meets the conditions through funding channels such as special bonds from local governments, actively meeting the credit financing needs of elderly care institutions. Increase the support for loan guarantees for small and micro enterprises in elderly care services by government financing guarantee and re-guarantee institutions.

Promote state-owned capital to participate in the development of elderly care services, and improve classified assessment and evaluation. Encourage state-owned enterprises and public institutions to activate idle assets to carry out elderly care services, and for those entrusted to operate, determine the lease term based on the principle of stable operating expectations; if the operator has significant investment, the lease term can be appropriately extended. Encourage foreign investment in the domestic elderly care service industry and enjoy national treatment.

Research the establishment of major national science and technology projects related to elderly care services, focusing on promoting the research and application of technology products such as humanoid robots, brain-computer interfaces, and artificial intelligence.

Improve the basic elderly care service list system, optimize service content, and establish a mechanism for service supply, evaluation, and dynamic adjustment. Establish a mechanism to promote the high-quality development of inclusive elderly care services, increase support for facility construction and site supply, and vigorously develop affordable, quality-assured, and sustainable inclusive elderly care services.

Establish a supply mechanism for elderly care services in permanent residence, improve mechanisms for cross-regional settlement of elderly care service subsidies, resource docking, etc., and promote the integration of elderly care services in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, the Yangtze River Delta, and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

Make the development of rural elderly care services an important part of implementing the rural revitalization strategy, and include rural elderly care service facilities in the land spatial planning at the township level or village planning.

Full Text of the "Opinions"

Opinions of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council on Deepening the Reform and Development of Elderly Care Services

(December 30, 2024)

Deepening the reform and development of elderly care services is an urgent requirement for implementing the national strategy to actively respond to population aging, an important task for safeguarding and improving people's livelihoods, and is related to the well-being of hundreds of millions of people and social harmony and stability. In order to accelerate the construction of an elderly care service system suitable for China's national conditions, better ensure that the elderly are well cared for, and allow all elderly people to enjoy a happy old age, the following opinions are proposed.

I. Overall Requirements

Adhere to Xi Jinping's Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era as the guiding ideology, deeply implement the spirit of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China and the second and third plenary sessions of the 20th Central Committee, adhere to doing what we can and acting within our capacity, enhance scientific forecasting, make forward-looking deployments, accelerate the improvement of the elderly care service network, optimize the supply pattern of elderly care services based on home care, supported by communities, professionally supported by institutions, and integrated with medical care, strengthen basic elderly care services focused on the care of disabled elderly people, and improve the classification and grading system A universal, accessible, urban-rural covering, and sustainable pension service system will be established, strengthening the promotion of elderly health, expanding and improving the quality of pension services, further stimulating the vitality of the pension cause and industry, and better meeting the diverse and multi-level pension service needs of the elderly.

The main goal is: By 2029, the pension service network will be basically established, service capacity and level significantly enhanced, noticeable progress in expanding capacity, improving quality and efficiency, and continuous optimization of basic pension service supply; by 2035, the pension service network will be more complete, service supply and demand more coordinated and adapted, all elderly people will enjoy basic pension services, and a pension service system suitable for China's national conditions will be mature and defined.

II. Accelerate the establishment of a three-tier pension service network covering urban and rural areas

(1) Build a county-level comprehensive pension service management platform. Relying on county-level institutions for the support of special difficult personnel and the pension service information system, a comprehensive pension service management platform will be established. Based on the bottom-line guarantee function, it will expand and strengthen comprehensive functions such as service demonstration, industry guidance, emergency assistance, and resource coordination, promoting the efficient utilization of pension service resources in the county. Provincial and municipal pension institutions should promote the sinking of high-quality resources, enhance technical support, demonstration leadership, and talent training for the county-level comprehensive pension service management platform, and promote regional linkage.

(2) Strengthen the construction of regional pension service capacity in towns and streets. Relying on elderly care homes and high-quality private pension institutions in towns and streets, they will be renovated and expanded into regional pension service centers, playing roles in professional care, service referral, and resource linking, promoting upward and downward linkage, and facilitating supply-demand connection. Support regions with conditions to promote the direct management of elderly care homes in towns and streets by county-level civil affairs departments, exploring and promoting entrusted operations to improve service management quality and efficiency.

(3) Improve village (community) pension service facility stations. Leverage the driving role of regional pension service centers in towns and streets, adopting methods such as "center + station," vigorously develop embedded community pension service facilities and mutual aid pension service stations, improve pension service facilities in old residential areas, strengthen the comprehensive utilization of public service facilities such as education, health, and culture, and build a comprehensive service complex for "the elderly and the young." Utilize facility stations to connect family and social services, timely collect and refer service needs.

III. Coordinate the three types of pension service forms: home-based, community, and institutional

(4) Consolidate the foundational role of home-based elderly care. Improve pension service policies and measures that are perceivable and accessible to the elderly at their bedside and around them. Improve family pension support policies, explore the construction of family pension beds with continuous, stable, and professional service functions for home-based disabled elderly people, and conduct training for family members of elderly caregivers. Actively cultivate specialized service institutions, encourage communities and housekeeping, internet platform companies, etc., to provide diverse services such as meal assistance, bathing assistance, cleaning assistance, mobility assistance, medical assistance, and emergency assistance at home, better meeting the needs for home care services. Accelerate the construction of age-friendly housing, promote home modifications for the elderly, support the installation of elevators in old residential areas, and strengthen the construction of barrier-free environments.

(5) Strengthen the supporting role of community elderly care. Expand the effective supply of community pension services, providing strong support for home-based elderly care relying on communities. Develop embedded community pension services, vigorously cultivate community pension service institutions with professional, chain, and branded operations, integrate surrounding venue facilities and other resources, implement "community + property management + pension services," and enhance capabilities in professional care, daytime care, rehabilitation nursing, and home services Incorporate community elderly care services into the key content of the urban 15-minute convenient living circle construction. Explore effective ways to supply elderly care services in old residential communities and promote the construction of complete communities. Explore the development of "elderly care consultant" services, providing professional consulting, entrusted agency, and other assistance projects for the elderly. The village (community) "two committees" should regard serving the elderly as an important responsibility, understand the situation and service needs of the elderly in their jurisdiction, and assist in carrying out elderly care services. Address the shortcomings of activity venues for elderly people in the community, and carry out cultural, sports, entertainment, and social interaction activities. Strengthen the visiting and caring services for lonely and elderly individuals.

(6) Optimize the professional support role of institutional elderly care. Based on the service targets and facility conditions, promote the classification reform of elderly care institutions according to local conditions and adjust and improve the supply structure. Basic guarantee-type elderly care institutions mainly accommodate extremely poor elderly individuals and economically disadvantaged disabled elderly individuals; inclusive support-type elderly care institutions are open to all elderly individuals, with support measures formulated by the municipal government; fully market-oriented elderly care institutions implement full competition, high quality, and high price to meet the diverse needs of the elderly. Improve the operation mechanism of public elderly care institutions, and based on ensuring basic guarantees, open vacant beds to the public, expand inclusive elderly care services, and establish a sound income management and performance incentive system. Encourage social forces to build or expand elderly care service facilities, and support the expansion of quality institutional elderly care services through public-private partnerships. Fully leverage the role of elderly care institutions in technological innovation demonstration, service skills training, and equipment promotion and application, promoting specialized services to extend to home and community. Strengthen care services for disabled and dependent elderly individuals, focus on increasing the supply of nursing beds, guide elderly care institutions to actively accommodate disabled elderly individuals, and develop long-term care and cognitive impairment care services. Explore the possibility of "elderly parents + disabled children" families jointly residing in elderly care institutions or other care institutions, and support capable elderly care institutions in accommodating severely disabled individuals.

(7) Promote the integration of medical and elderly care. Strengthen the organic integration of medical and health services with elderly care services in terms of policy systems, service systems, and business processes, and enhance disease prevention and control. Strengthen the collaboration between elderly care institutions and medical and health service institutions, reinforce integrated care, and establish a stable and smooth two-way transfer green channel, simplifying the referral and medical treatment procedures. According to the needs of medical institutions within elderly care institutions, grant corresponding prescription rights in accordance with laws and regulations. Encourage elderly care institutions with appropriate medical conditions to legally carry out palliative care services. Strengthen the early identification of high-risk disabled populations and disability prevention, and carry out health guidance and comprehensive interventions.

(8) Accelerate the improvement of rural elderly care service shortcomings. Expand the supply of rural elderly care services according to local conditions. Develop rural elderly care services as an important part of implementing the rural revitalization strategy, and incorporate rural elderly care service facilities into the land spatial planning at the township level or village planning. Vigorously promote mutual assistance elderly care services, and improve the visiting and caring service mechanism for elderly individuals who are left behind, elderly individuals, disabled individuals, and those with disabilities in rural areas. Encourage rural collective economic organizations to develop elderly care services and guide social forces to actively participate. In areas with conditions, rural elderly care positions can be developed according to regulations. Guide urban elderly care service institutions to operate rural elderly care service facilities, promoting balanced development of urban and rural elderly care services.

(9) Strengthen and improve comprehensive supervision of elderly care services. Improve the elderly care service standards and evaluation system. Improve the registration and filing management of elderly care institutions and strengthen the supervision of advance fees Establish and improve the management system for home and community elderly care services, and enhance the regulatory mechanisms for elderly care communities. Improve the emergency management system for elderly care services, fully implement the safety production responsibility system, and ensure the responsibilities of elderly care service institutions, relevant management departments, and local party committees and governments are fulfilled. Strengthen the quality supervision of elderly products.

IV. Build a Tripartite Collaborative Mechanism for the Development of Elderly Care Services Industry

(10) Play the leading role of the government in the development of elderly care services. Strengthen the government's planning guidance, policy support, organizational assurance, and supervision management of elderly care services, and expand the supply of inclusive, basic, and safety-net elderly care services. Safety-net elderly care service facilities are mainly constructed and supplied by the government according to planning. Improve the basic elderly care service list system, optimize service content, and establish a mechanism for service supply, evaluation, and dynamic adjustment. Establish a mechanism to promote the high-quality development of inclusive elderly care services, increase support for facility construction and site supply, and vigorously develop affordable, quality-assured, and sustainable inclusive elderly care services. Improve the comprehensive assessment system for the capabilities of the elderly, with assessment results recognized nationwide and relevant departments using them as needed. Establish a mechanism for the supply of elderly care services in the place of residence, improve mechanisms for cross-regional settlement of elderly care service subsidies and resource matching, and promote the integration of elderly care services in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, the Yangtze River Delta, and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

(11) Play the role of market resource allocation in the development of the elderly care service industry. Fully stimulate market vitality, support various market entities to actively participate in elderly care services according to market principles, improve the social operation mechanism and the evaluation mechanism for the implementation of support policies, and promote the scale, clustering, and branding development of the elderly care service industry. Promote state-owned capital to participate in the development of elderly care services and improve classified assessment and evaluation. Encourage state-owned enterprises and public institutions to activate idle assets to carry out elderly care services, determining the lease term based on stable operational expectations for entrusted operations; if the operator has significant investment, the lease term can be appropriately extended. Encourage foreign investment in the domestic elderly care service industry and enjoy national treatment. Vigorously develop the silver economy, strengthen the research and promotion of elderly products, enrich elderly care service scenarios, and unleash the potential of elderly consumption. Develop the travel and residence elderly care market, adapt to local conditions to develop new formats such as health and wellness tourism, and promote the construction of travel and residence elderly care destinations.

(12) Play the role of social participation in elderly care services. Strengthen the mutual assistance function of society, and build a social support elderly care service pattern led by grassroots party organizations, coordinated by grassroots mass autonomous organizations, and involving social organizations, social workers, and volunteers. Through government procurement of services and other means, vigorously cultivate social organizations for elderly care services, grassroots elderly organizations, develop volunteer services for the elderly, and explore the establishment of a time savings management system for elderly care volunteer services. Encourage support for elderly care services through charitable trusts, social donations, and other means. Establish a collaborative development mechanism for elderly education, relying on elderly universities and other institutions to carry out online and offline elderly education in elderly care institutions and communities, and improve support measures for social forces to develop elderly education. Actively develop elderly human resources and create diversified and personalized employment positions suitable for the elderly. Deepen and expand the "Silver Age Action," encouraging the elderly to participate in the implementation of rural revitalization strategies and civilized practice activities as stipulated. Smooth the green channel for the elderly to obtain legal aid and notarization services, and explore the establishment of an implementation mechanism for elderly guardianship by agreement V. Strengthening the Guarantee of Effective and Powerful Elderly Care Service Elements

(13) Scientifically plan the layout of elderly care service facilities. Gradually increase the proportion of land for elderly care service facilities or expand the space arrangement for elderly care services based on the degree of population aging and changes in demand for elderly care services. Implement the requirement for new residential communities to plan, construct, accept, and deliver elderly care service facilities simultaneously, incorporating elderly care service facilities into project support, strictly managing planning and approval, and ensuring that new residential communities are equipped according to standards and handed over in a timely manner as per agreements. Promote the construction of county-level elderly activity centers and expand services for the elderly. Support the renovation of idle public service resources into elderly care service facilities, and provincial governments should guide cities and counties to legally resolve issues related to planning adjustments, changes in land and property usage, fire safety renovations, and fire safety inspection procedures. Scientifically determine the fire safety and earthquake resistance standards for elderly care service facilities.

(14) Improve financial support policies. Localities should increase support for elderly care services based on economic development levels and the degree of population aging. Strengthen the funding guarantee for basic elderly care services according to the principles of dividing fiscal responsibilities and expenditure responsibilities between central and local governments. Central budget investments actively support the construction of the elderly care service system. Accelerate the establishment of a long-term care insurance system, reasonably determine the coverage and subsidy standards for care subsidies for economically disadvantaged disabled elderly individuals, and ensure the connection between long-term care insurance and care subsidies for economically disadvantaged elderly individuals who are elderly and disabled. Carry out innovative pilot projects for county-level elderly care service systems and support pilot areas in optimizing resource allocation. For eligible elderly care service institutions, implement tax and fee reductions, and apply residential pricing for water, electricity, gas, and heating according to current regulations. If separate metering for water, electricity, gas, and heating is not feasible, billing can be done through quantitative or proportional methods. Encourage support for community elderly care service institutions by providing rent reductions or exemptions.

(15) Strengthen the construction of the elderly care service talent team. Research and establish an evaluation system for professional technical talents in elderly care services, standardize occupational settings in the elderly care field, and enhance the attractiveness of elderly care professions. Establish and improve the career transition channels between skilled talents and professional technical talents, and create a skill position evaluation and appointment system that aligns with skill levels. In areas with conditions, explore pilot programs for public-funded training in elderly care-related majors in vocational colleges, with market-oriented social employment after graduation. Reasonably allocate social workers based on the number of elderly individuals. Guide elderly care service institutions to improve salary distribution methods, favoring frontline staff. Increase training for elderly caregivers, elderly capacity assessors, and other vocational skills, strengthen and standardize level recognition and evaluation management, and enhance professional ethics construction, legally improving the prohibition system for practitioners.

(16) Vigorously develop elderly care finance. Support the construction of eligible elderly care service infrastructure through funding channels such as special bonds from local governments, actively meeting the credit financing needs of elderly care institutions. Increase the support of government financing guarantees and re-guarantee institutions for loans to micro and small elderly care enterprises. Support eligible elderly care projects in issuing real estate investment trusts in the infrastructure sector. Expand elderly care service trust business and promote commercial health insurance products that include long-term care responsibilities and health management (17) Accelerate the development and application of technology and information in elderly care. Research the establishment of major national science and technology projects related to elderly care services, focusing on promoting the research and application of technologies such as humanoid robots, brain-computer interfaces, and artificial intelligence. Deepen the national demonstration of smart health and elderly care applications, promote smart home and health products, and explore the development of home elderly care safety risk warning and prevention services. Improve the national unified elderly care service information platform to facilitate the matching of supply and demand for elderly care services. Coordinate the nationwide population census, sampling surveys, and other work to form a unified database for the elderly and elderly care services, strengthening the connection with the national population basic information database and others.

VI. Strengthen Organizational Implementation

Local party committees and governments at all levels should strengthen organizational leadership, attach great importance to elderly care services, and incorporate the construction of the elderly care service system into economic and social development plans and important agendas. Party (work) committees at the township (street) level and village (community) party organizations should regard elderly care services as an important aspect of connecting with the masses, guiding various organizations to work together on elderly care services. Civil affairs departments should strengthen overall coordination, work with relevant departments to improve policies related to the reform and development of elderly care services, and establish a sound supervision and evaluation system. All regions and relevant departments should implement these opinions based on actual conditions, actively and steadily promote reforms, respect the wishes of the elderly population, and avoid a one-size-fits-all approach. Major issues should be reported to the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council in accordance with procedures in a timely manner. (End)