The “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” were recently released. The opinion proposes that by 2029, the elderly care service network will be basically completed.
The Communist Party of China Central Committee and the State Council have unveiled a guideline to deepen reforms in eldercare services recently. The guideline called for the basic completion of an eldercare service network by 2029.
This is a corner of the elderly care service station in Siyi Village, Panjiawan Town, Jiayu County, Xianning City, Hubei Province (photo taken on November 5, 2024). (Photo source: Xinhua News Agency)
【Knowledge Points】
Deepening the reform and development of elderly care services is an urgent requirement for implementing the national strategy of actively responding to population aging. It is an important task to protect and improve people’s livelihood. It is related to the well-being of hundreds of millions of people and to social harmony and stability. In order to speed up the construction of an elderly care service system suitable for my country’s national conditions, better ensure that the elderly have adequate care, and allow all elderly people to enjoy a happy old age, on January 7, 2025, the “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” (hereinafter referred to as “Opinions”) was released. This is the first time that my country has issued opinions on elderly care services in the name of the Party Central Committee and the State Council. The main goals are: by 2029, the elderly care service network will be basically completed; by 2035, the elderly care service network will be more complete and all elderly people will enjoy basic elderly care services.
The “Opinions” provide a clear answer for the first time what is a senior care service system suitable for my country’s national conditions – a senior care service system that is hierarchical and classified, universally accessible, covering both urban and rural areas, and sustainably developed. The “Opinions” proposed for the first time to accelerate the improvement of a three-level elderly care service network covering urban and rural areas – the county-level comprehensive elderly care service management platform plays a role in demonstration and guidance, the township (street) regional elderly care service center plays a hub role, and the village (community) elderly care service facility site Taking advantage of being close to the elderly, elderly care facilities throughout the county (district) are connected into a network, making services more convenient and accessible. The “Opinions” proposed the reform of the classification of elderly care institutions for the first time – for the first time, they clearly divided the elderly care institutions into basic guarantee type, inclusive support type, and complete market type, promoting the formation of a comprehensive guarantee type, services for urgent needs, supply for universal benefit, and market selection. Service landscape.
The “Opinions” clarified the responsibilities of the government, market, and society in deepening the reform and development of elderly care services – the government must play a leading role, strengthen planning guidance, policy support, organizational guarantees, supervision and management of elderly care services, and expand popularization of elderly care services. Providing beneficiary, basic and comprehensive elderly care services. The market must play its role in allocating resources, fully stimulate market vitality, support various market entities to actively participate in elderly care services in accordance with market-oriented principles, improve social operation mechanisms and support policy implementation evaluation mechanisms, and promote the scale, clustering, and branding of the elderly care service industry. develop. Society must play a participatory role, strengthen social mutual aid and mutual assistance functions, and build a social support elderly care service pattern that is led by grassroots party organizations, coordinated by grassroots mass autonomous organizations, and participated by social organizations, social workers, volunteers and other forces.
【Important speech】
We will implement the national strategy to actively respond to population aging, develop elderly care and elderly care industries, optimize services for the elderly who live alone, and promote the realization that all elderly people have access to basic elderly care services.
We will pursue a proactive national strategy in response to population aging, develop elderly care programs and services, and provide better services for elderly people who live alone. By doing so, we can ensure that basic elderly care is accessible to the entire elderly population.
——Xi Jinping’s report at the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China on October 16, 2022
【Related vocabulary】
Three-level elderly care service network
three-tiered facility network for elderly care services
personal pension system
private pension scheme
China Daily English Dianjin Studio (This article was first published on the “Study Powerful Country” learning platform)
[Editor in charge: Chen Danni]
