According to the Chinese government website, the General Office of the State Council has issued the full text of the Opinions on Promoting the Development of Pension Services. The opinions point out that, according to the deployment of the 2019 government work report on the work of senior care services, in order to open the "blockage points", eliminate the "pain points", break down the barriers to the development of sound market mechanisms, and continue to improve the home-based, community-based, institutional supplementation, medical and nursing care system. The government will continue to improve the home-based, community-based, institutionalized, and medical-care service system, establish and improve the long-term care service system for the elderly and the disabled, strengthen the service management system with credit as the core, quality as the guarantee, and equal emphasis on decentralization and supervision, and vigorously promote the continuous optimization of the supply structure of elderly care services, the obvious expansion of effective social investment, the continuous improvement of the quality of elderly care services, and the full release of the potential of elderly care services consumption, so as to ensure that, on the basis of guaranteeing basic elderly care services for all, the elderly will be effectively cared for and provided with adequate medical care and support services by 2022. On the basis of guaranteeing basic elderly care services for all, the diversified and multi-level demand for elderly care services for the elderly will be effectively met, and the sense of achievement, happiness and security of the elderly and their children will be significantly improved.
The following is the full text of the opinion:
The CPC Central Committee and the State Council attaches great importance to the elderly service, since the 18th Party Congress, the introduction of the accelerated development of the elderly service industry, the full liberalization of the market for elderly services and other policies and measures, the construction of the elderly service system has achieved remarkable results. However, on the whole, the vigor of the senior care service market has not yet been fully stimulated, and the problems of unbalanced and insufficient development, insufficient effective supply, and poor service quality still exist, and the people's demand for senior care services has not yet been effectively met. According to the deployment of the 2019 government work report on the work of senior care services, in order to clear the "blockage points", eliminate the "pain points", break down the barriers to development, improve the market mechanism, continue to improve the home-based, community-based, institutional supplementation, medical care combination of senior care service system, establish a sound and comprehensive senior care service system, and improve the quality of services. The government will also continue to improve the home-based, community-based, institution-based, and medical-care-combined elderly care service system, establish and improve the long-term care service system for the elderly and the disabled, strengthen the service management system with credit as the core, quality as the guarantee, and equal emphasis on both decentralization and supervision, and vigorously promote the continuous optimization of the structure of the supply of elderly care services, the obvious expansion of effective social investment, the continuous improvement of the quality of elderly care services, and the full release of the potential of elderly care services, so as to ensure that, on the basis of guaranteeing that everyone can enjoy basic elderly care services, the diversified elderly care services will be effectively satisfied by 2022 To ensure that by 2022, on the basis of guaranteeing basic elderly care services for all, the diversified and multi-level needs of the elderly for elderly care services will be effectively met, and the sense of achievement, happiness and security of the elderly and their children will be significantly improved, with the consent of the State Council, the following opinions are hereby put forward.
First, deepen the reform of administrative services
(a) Establish a comprehensive regulatory system for elderly services. Develop a list of responsibilities for "exemption from responsibility for performance of duties and accountability for dereliction of duty", formulate relevant policies and documents to strengthen the comprehensive supervision of elderly services, establish a cross-sectoral coordinated supervision mechanism for each sector, and improve the system of supervision in the aftermath of the incident. Improve the "double random, one open" working mechanism, increase the investigation and punishment of irregularities, adhere to the most rigorous standards, the strictest supervision, the harshest punishment, the most serious accountability. Market supervision departments shall ****share basic information on enterprise registration to provincial ****share platforms or provincial interdepartmental data interfaces; civil affairs departments shall download relevant information on elderly care organizations in a timely manner, and strengthen guidance and supervision during and after the event. Accelerate the construction of the social credit system in the field of senior care services, and by the end of June 2019, establish and improve the joint disciplinary mechanism for breach of trust, and implement joint disciplinary measures for senior care service institutions (including senior care institutions, in-home community senior care service institutions, as well as other enterprises, institutions and social organizations whose business scope and articles of association include the content of senior care services) and their personnel in the presence of serious breach of trust. Administrative licenses, administrative penalties, sampling and inspection results and other information of senior care service organizations are recorded in their names and made public in accordance with the law through the National Credit Information ****Hanging Platform and the National Enterprise Credit Information Disclosure System, respectively, according to the nature of their operations. (The Ministry of Civil Affairs, the Development and Reform Commission, the People's Bank of China and the General Administration of Market Supervision are responsible for this according to their respective responsibilities, and the local people's governments at all levels are responsible for this)
(2) Continue to deepen the reform of public elderly care institutions. Giving full play to the role of public elderly institutions and public-private elderly institutions in guaranteeing the bottom line, under the premise of meeting the needs of the current and future period of centralized support for special hardship cases, focusing on providing no-cost or low-fee care services for the economically disadvantaged elderly people with incapacities (including dementia, the same hereinafter), as well as for elderly people from special family-planning families. Adhering to the public welfare attributes of public-run nursing institutions, the scope of protection is determined, and the remaining beds are allowed to be opened up to the community, with a study being conducted to formulate guiding standards for fees and charges, and the proceeds being used to support the nursing care services of those who have been guaranteed the bottom line. Explore the restructuring of public nursing institutions into state-owned nursing service enterprises. Formulate management methods for public-private nursing care institutions, refine evaluation standards and selection rules, and strengthen supervision of contract implementation. Operators of public-private-run senior care institutions should regularly report to the commissioning department on the assets and operations of the institutions, and report on major emergencies in a timely manner. (Ministry of Civil Affairs, Development and Reform Commission, Ministry of Finance, the Central Editorial Office, State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, Health and Health Commission in accordance with the division of responsibilities, the local people's governments at all levels are responsible for)
(3) to solve the problem of fire auditing of elderly institutions. In accordance with the "building design fire code", do a good job in the elderly institutions fire approval services, improve the effectiveness of the approval. Declare the fire design review, fire acceptance and fire according to law for the record of the elderly institutions, take the initiative to provide fire technical consulting services, according to law as soon as possible. Localities should combine the actual implementation of the standardized management of fire safety in the elderly service industry, focusing on the classification guide, clear elderly institutions building fire resistance level, floor settings and layout, fire separation measures, safety evacuation and shelter design, building fire facilities, fire management agencies and personnel, micro-fire station construction and other configuration requirements, to promote the implementation of elderly institutions of the main responsibility for fire safety, to carry out self-checking and self-correction of hidden dangers to improve the level of self-management. Self-management. Rural homes for the elderly and nursing institutions that meet fire safety requirements using schools, factory buildings, commercial premises, etc., and fail to pass the fire audit due to the problem of failure to handle real estate registration, land planning and other formalities, by the end of December 2019, the provincial civil affairs department will submit to the provincial people's government to organize a centralized study on the disposal of the relevant departments. If they have fire safety technical conditions, the relevant competent departments will issue opinions and enjoy corresponding support policies. (The Ministry of Emergency Response, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, the Ministry of Natural Resources, the Ministry of Civil Affairs, the General Administration of Market Supervision are responsible for their respective responsibilities, and the local people's governments at all levels are responsible for)
(d) Reduce the burden of taxation on senior care services. Focus on reducing taxes and fees, senior care service organizations in line with the conditions of the current policy, can enjoy the small and micro-enterprises and other fiscal preferential policies. The study of non-profit senior care service organizations enterprise income tax support policy. Provide tax and fee reduction and exemption support policies for senior care service organizations that provide day care, rehabilitation care, meal assistance and mobility assistance services in the community. Implement policies to reduce or waive administrative fees and implement policies to ensure that senior care service organizations enjoy residential pricing for electricity, water, gas and heat, and shall not refuse to implement relevant pricing policies on the basis of the nature of the land or housing. (The Ministry of Finance, the General Administration of Taxation, the Development and Reform Commission and the General Administration of Market Supervision are responsible for this according to their respective responsibilities, and the local people's governments at all levels are responsible for this.)
(e) Enhancement of the level of precision of government investment. The lottery public welfare funds used by the Ministry of Civil Affairs at this level and by local governments at all levels for social welfare undertakings should be tilted more in favor of supporting the development of elderly care services, with no less than 55% of the funds to be used to support the development of elderly care services by 2022. Nursing institutions that accept elderly disabled persons with financial difficulties shall enjoy operating subsidies on an equal basis according to the number of said elderly persons, regardless of the nature of their operations, and the said elderly persons who are admitted shall enjoy subsidies for nursing care services in accordance with the provisions of the regulations. Senior care services will be included in the government's guiding directory of purchased services, and comprehensively sorting out the various types of senior care services currently arranged for by financial expenditures, and formulating standards for the government's purchase of senior care services on a provincial basis, with an emphasis on the purchase of services such as life care, rehabilitation care, institutional operation, social work and personnel training. (The Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Civil Affairs, the Health Commission in accordance with the division of responsibilities, the local people's governments at all levels are responsible for)
(F) support for the scale of the elderly institutions, the development of chain. Support in the field of senior care services efforts to create a number of influential and competitive senior care services trademark brand, the senior care services trademark brand to strengthen the protection of the law. Enterprises that have obtained business licenses in other places shall not be required to set up subsidiaries to carry out business activities locally. Carrying out an action plan for city enterprises to collaborate in promoting the development of senior care services. Non-profit senior care organizations may set up multiple service outlets without legal personality in the area under the jurisdiction of their registration and management authorities. (The General Administration of Market Supervision, the Intellectual Property Office, the Ministry of Civil Affairs, and the Development and Reform Commission are responsible for this according to their respective responsibilities, and local people's governments at all levels are responsible for this.)
(VII) Do a good job of publicizing information and providing policy guidance in the field of senior care services. Establish a mechanism for monitoring, analyzing and evaluating the development of senior care services, improve the statistical classification standards for senior care services, and strengthen statistical monitoring.By the end of June 2019, the people's governments at each provincial level will publish a list of existing policies and measures to support senior care services in their administrative regions, as well as information on the supply of and demand for senior care services, or investment guides. Formulate specifications for the disclosure of information on the quality of services provided by senior care service organizations, and disclose information on the list of senior care service items, service guides, and service standards. Focusing on cleaning up and abolishing various regulations and practices that impede the unified market and fair competition in the public-private construction of senior care service organizations, bidding for senior care facilities, and the government's purchase of senior care services, such as those involving local protection and the exclusion of for-profit senior care service organizations from participation in the competition. (Statistics Bureau, Development and Reform Commission, Ministry of Civil Affairs, Ministry of Finance, the General Administration of Market Supervision, according to the division of responsibilities, the provincial people's governments are responsible for)
Second, to broaden the channels of investment and financing in senior care services
(h) to promote the solution to the problem of financing of senior care service organizations. The company's policy is to smooth the transmission mechanism of monetary and credit policies, comprehensively utilize a variety of tools, and grasp the implementation of policies such as the support of small-scale refinancing. To meet the credit conditions but temporarily encountered operational difficulties in the private pension institutions, to continue to be financial support. Effectively resolve the financing process of senior living service organizations, the relevant financial institutions to charge illegal fees, assessment fees, commitment fees, fund management fees and other issues, to reduce the financing surcharges, reduce the cost of financing. Encourage commercial banks to explore the issuance of asset (facility) mortgages and pledge loans of accounts receivable to private senior care institutions with clear property rights. Explore allowing for-profit senior care institutions to use assets such as land and facilities acquired in return for payment to carry out mortgage financing. Strongly support qualified market-oriented and highly standardized senior care service enterprises to go public for financing. Support commercial insurance institutions to organize senior care service institutions or participate in the construction and operation of senior care service institutions, and appropriately broaden the sources of insurance funds to invest in the construction of senior care projects. Give better play to the role of the entrepreneurial guarantee loan policy, provide loan support to individuals and small and medium-sized enterprises engaged in the senior care service industry and meeting the conditions, and encourage financial institutions to reasonably determine the level of loan interest rates with reference to the base interest rate of the loan and in combination with the risk-sharing situation. (The People's Bank of China, the Ministry of Finance, the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, the China Securities Regulatory Commission, and the Ministry of Natural Resources are responsible for this according to their respective responsibilities)
(ix) Expanding the scale of the issuance of corporate bonds related to the senior care service industry. According to the enterprise capital back to the situation of scientific design of the issuance program, support a reasonable and flexible setting of the bond period, options and debt repayment methods, for the elderly to provide life care, rehabilitation and nursing care and other service facilities and equipment, as well as the development of rehabilitation assistive device products and supplies project. Encourage enterprises to issue renewable bonds for the construction of projects with a long payback period, such as senior living institutions. For senior care service projects with stable cash flow after the completion of the project, it is allowed to provide pledge guarantee for the bond issuance with the future revenue right of the project. Allowed to provide credit enhancement for bonds by way of mortgage guarantee for construction land use rights. Explore the issuance of project revenue notes and project revenue bonds to support the construction and operation of senior care service industry projects. (Development and Reform Commission, the People's Bank of China, the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, the China Securities Regulatory Commission, according to the division of responsibilities)
(10) the full implementation of the national treatment of foreign capital to organize senior care service institutions. Foreign capital participating in the development of senior care services in the Mainland through public-private partnership, government-purchased services, and cooperation between the government and social capital shall enjoy the same treatment as domestic capital. Senior care institutions set up by foreign capital in the Mainland that accept government-protected recipients shall enjoy the same preferential policies such as operating subsidies. Include elderly care and rehabilitation products and services in the scope of the China International Import Expo, and explore the establishment of elderly care and rehabilitation exhibition areas. (The Ministry of Civil Affairs, the Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Commerce in accordance with the division of responsibilities)
Three, expanding the employment and entrepreneurship of senior care services
(k) establish and improve the senior caregiver vocational skills level recognition and education and training system. by the end of September 2019, the formulation and implementation of the professional skills standards of the senior caregiver. Strengthen the pre-service training and regular training for the heads and managers of elderly care service organizations, so that they can master the laws and regulations, policies and standards of elderly care services. Implement policies such as subsidizing training fees and vocational skills appraisal subsidies for senior care service practitioners in accordance with regulations. Encourage all kinds of colleges and universities, especially vocational colleges and universities (including technical schools), to set up elderly care service-related majors or offer related courses, and open health service and management, Chinese medicine and health care, Chinese medicine and rehabilitation, and other related majors in ordinary colleges and universities. Promote the construction of practical training bases for elderly care services in vocational institutions (including technical schools). Implementing student financial aid policies in accordance with regulations. (Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Civil Affairs, the General Administration of Market Supervision, according to the division of responsibilities, the local people's governments at all levels are responsible for)
(xii) vigorously promote the senior care service industry to absorb employment. Combined with the government's purchase of grass-roots public **** management and social services, a number of service positions for the elderly have been developed at the grass-roots level, especially in the streets (townships) and neighborhoods (villages), with priority given to the employment of people with employment difficulties, the poor population with documented cards, and college graduates. Senior care service organizations that recruit persons with employment difficulties, sign employment contracts and pay social insurance premiums are given social insurance subsidies in accordance with the regulations. Strengthening vocational skills training and employment guidance services for people with documented poverty who are engaged in elderly care services, and guiding them to seek employment in elderly care service organizations; elderly care service organizations that absorb people with documented poverty for employment are entitled to entrepreneurship and employment tax incentives, vocational training subsidies, and other supportive policies in accordance with the regulations. For senior care service organizations that meet the standards of small and microenterprises and newly recruit college graduates in the graduation year, if they sign a labor contract for more than one year and pay social insurance premiums, they will be given social insurance subsidies in accordance with the regulations. Implementing the policy of subsidizing employment apprenticeship, and appropriately raising the standard of employment apprenticeship subsidies for apprenticeship units with a retention rate of more than 50% at the end of the apprenticeship period. (Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Civil Affairs, Poverty Alleviation Office in accordance with the division of responsibilities, the local people's governments at all levels)
(xiii) the establishment of elderly services praise mechanism. It is studying the establishment of a national program to commend advanced collectives and individuals in senior care services. Organize and carry out national nursing caregiver skills competitions, award winners the honorary title of "National Technical Skill" in accordance with the regulations, and promote the corresponding vocational skills level. Carrying out activities to care for elderly caregivers, strengthening social publicity on the advanced deeds and dedication of elderly caregivers, so that the labor and social value of elderly caregivers will be respected by society as a whole. (The Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, the Ministry of Civil Affairs, the Health Commission, and the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television are responsible for this according to their respective responsibilities)
Fourth, expanding the consumption of senior care services
(n) Establishing and improving the long-term care service system. It is studying the establishment of industry norms for long-term care service projects, standards, and quality evaluation, and improving the professional long-term care service system linking home, community, and institutions. Improve nationally unified standards for assessing the abilities of the elderly, and carry out comprehensive assessments of the abilities of the elderly in a unified manner through the purchase of services by the government, taking into account conditions such as incapacity, dementia and disability, with the results of the assessments serving as the basis for receiving subsidies for the elderly and basic old-age care services. Comprehensively establishing a system of subsidies for elderly and disabled persons in financial difficulty, and strengthening the interface with the two subsidy policies for persons with disabilities. Accelerating the implementation of pilot long-term care insurance systems, and promoting the formation of a long-term care insurance system framework that conforms to national conditions. Encourage the development of commercial long-term care insurance products, and provide personalized long-term care services for insured persons. (The Ministry of Civil Affairs, the Ministry of Finance, the Health Commission, the General Administration of Market Supervision, the Health Insurance Bureau, the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, and the China Disabled Persons' Federation are responsible for this according to their respective roles and responsibilities.)
(xv) The development of inclusive finance for the elderly. It supports commercial insurance institutions to carry out reverse mortgage pension insurance business for the elderly in cities at or above the prefecture level, and establishes green channels in real estate transactions, mortgage registration, notary publics and other institutions to simplify procedures and improve service efficiency. Supporting the elderly to take out accidental injury insurance, encouraging insurance companies to rationally design products and scientifically set rates. Encourage commercial pension insurance organizations to develop pension protection management business that meets long-term pension needs. Supporting banks, trusts and other financial institutions to develop pension-type financial products, trust products and other financial products for the elderly, and appropriately relaxing the age limit for elderly people eligible for credit to apply for loans in accordance with the law, so as to enhance the accessibility and satisfaction of financial services for the elderly. Expanding the scale of pension target fund management and steadily promoting the registration of pension target securities investment funds, which can set preferential fund fee rates and encourage investors to hold pension target funds for a long period of time through differentiated fee arrangements. Pension target funds should adopt mature and robust asset allocation strategies to control fund downside risks and pursue long-term steady appreciation of fund assets. (CBIRC, SEC, PBoC, Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development and Ministry of Natural Resources are responsible for this according to their respective responsibilities)
(p) Promoting the growth of consumption among the elderly. It will carry out a national competition on innovation and design of products and supplies for the elderly, formulate a catalog of products and supplies for the elderly, and build a platform for the transformation and promotion of the results of the synergistic efforts of the industry, academia, research and application. It has issued measures for the allocation, leasing, recycling and financial leasing of rehabilitation aids for the elderly, and promoted the establishment of rehabilitation aids allocation service (leasing) stations in nursing institutions and urban and rural communities. Conducting systematic research on nutritional balanced diets, developing dietary products suitable for the nutritional and health needs of the elderly population, and gradually improving the dietary structure of the elderly population. (The Ministry of Civil Affairs, the Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Science and Technology, and the Health and Wellness Commission are responsible for this according to their respective roles.)
(17) Strengthening the protection of the rights and interests of the elderly in consumption and the rectification of illegal fund-raising in the field of elderly services. Increase joint law enforcement efforts to organize and carry out special remedial actions against infringements in the field of consumption of products and services for the elderly. Strictly investigated and dealt with fraudulent sales of various products and services to the elderly illegal behavior. Widely carry out publicity and education activities for the elderly to recognize and prevent fraud, and enhance the awareness and ability of the elderly to resist fraudulent sales. Encourage the public to provide clues of illegal fund-raising in the field of elderly services, and investigate and verify the suspected illegal fund-raising behaviors in a timely manner, issue risk alerts and dispose of them appropriately in accordance with the law. To make up for the lack of funds for the construction of facilities in senior care institutions, through the sale of prepaid nature of the "membership card" and other forms of marketing, in accordance with the principle of inclusive and prudent supervision, to clarify the restrictive conditions, to take the third-party depository of commercial banks to ensure that the management of funds and the use of security. (The General Administration of Market Supervision, the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of Civil Affairs, the Health Commission, the People's Bank of China, the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television are responsible for this according to their respective responsibilities, and the local people's governments at all levels are responsible for this.)
Five, to promote the high-quality development of senior care services
(xviii) Enhancement of the ability of combined services of health care and nursing care. Promote the cooperation of existing medical and health institutions and nursing institutions, play a complementary advantage, simplify the establishment of medical and nursing institutions, the implementation of a "window" processing. For clinics, health centers (rooms), infirmaries, and nursing stations set up within nursing institutions, administrative approval has been canceled, and record management has been implemented. When carrying out regional health planning, space should be set aside for nursing institutions to organize or set up medical institutions. Medical security departments shall, according to the characteristics of the elderly institutions organized and built-in medical institutions, will meet the requirements of the medical insurance agreement into the scope of management, improve the management of the agreement, strict supervision in accordance with the law. Medical institutions with legal personality may carry out nursing care services by changing their registered matters or business scope. It is promoting the integration of medical care in rural areas and communities, advancing the establishment of contracted service relationships between primary healthcare organizations and medical personnel and elderly families, and establishing incentive mechanisms for village doctors to participate in healthcare and elderly care services. Areas with the necessary conditions can support family doctors' visits to provide services for the elderly. Medical and nursing personnel are encouraged to practise in healthcare and nursing institutions, and enjoy the same treatment in terms of title evaluation and other aspects. (Health Commission, Ministry of Civil Affairs, the Central Editorial Office, the Medical Insurance Bureau in accordance with the division of responsibilities)
(xix) Promote the integrated development of home, community and institutional care. Support for senior care institutions to operate community-based senior care facilities and provide services to the elderly at home. Including the care training for family members of the disabled elderly in the catalog of government-purchased elderly services, and organizing elderly care institutions, social organizations, social work agencies, the Red Cross and other organizations to carry out elderly care, emergency rescue knowledge and skills training. Vigorous efforts are being made to develop mutual-help elderly care facilities, such as rural welfare homes, which are affordable to the government, affordable to villages, useful to farmers, and sustainable in terms of service. Explore the model of "property services + elderly care services", and support property service enterprises to carry out various forms of elderly care services, such as senior meals and regular visits. To create a "three-society linkage" mechanism, with the community as the platform, social organizations for elderly services as the carrier, and social workers as the support, it strongly supports voluntary elderly services and actively explores mutual aid elderly services. Vigorous efforts have been made to cultivate a team of elderly volunteers, accelerate the establishment of a volunteer service record system, actively explore such practices as "student community volunteer service credits" and "time banks", and protect the legitimate rights and interests of volunteers. (The Ministry of Civil Affairs, the Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Finance, the Health Commission, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, the Ministry of Education, the Central Committee of the **** Youth League, the Red Cross Society of China, according to the division of responsibilities)
(xx) Continuing to carry out the special action of the construction of the quality of service of the nursing home. Continue to vigorously promote the quality of the hidden dangers of remediation work, against the problem list one by one, to ensure that all nursing homes remediation pass. Accelerate the clarification of standards and norms for the safety of nursing homes, formulate mandatory national standards to ensure the quality and safety of basic services provided by nursing homes, and implement a nationally standardized rating and certification system for nursing services. Improve the mechanism for monitoring food safety in nursing homes. Expanding the coverage of comprehensive liability insurance for senior care services, and encouraging home-based community senior care service organizations to take out employer liability insurance and senior care liability insurance. (The Ministry of Civil Affairs, the Health Commission, the Ministry of Emergency Response, the General Administration of Market Supervision, and the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission are responsible for this according to their respective roles)
(xxi) Implementing the "Internet + Senior Citizens" initiative. The company will continue to promote the development of the smart health care industry, expand the application of information technology in the field of elderly care, formulate a catalog for the promotion of smart health care products and services, and carry out pilot demonstrations of smart health care applications. Promote the in-depth application of new-generation information technology such as artificial intelligence, Internet of Things, cloud computing, big data and other intelligent hardware products in the field of senior care services. A number of "smart nursing homes" have been built across the country, promoting the Internet of Things and remote intelligent security monitoring technology, realizing 24-hour automatic security guards, reducing the risk of accidents among the elderly, and improving the service experience. Using the Internet and biometrics, it is exploring the establishment of a mechanism for remote declaration and review of subsidies for the elderly. Accelerating the construction of a national elderly service management information system, and promoting the docking of information resources such as household registration, medical care, social insurance and social assistance. Strengthen the security protection of the identity and biometric information of the elderly. (The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Civil Affairs, the Development and Reform Commission, and the Health and Wellness Commission are responsible for this according to their respective responsibilities.)
(xxii) Improvement of the elderly care service system. It has established and perfected a mechanism for regular visits to the elderly living alone, empty-nesting, and left-behind, so as to proactively prevent and promptly detect accidental risks. It also promotes the model of "consultant for elderly services", which plays a role in matching supply and demand and guiding services. Exploring ways to support, through public bidding, qualified social organizations to accept commissions from special families with special family planning needs, widows and orphans, the disabled and other special elderly persons, and to handle matters such as admission to nursing homes and medical care on their behalf in accordance with the law. Actively organizing activities for the elderly that are beneficial to their physical and mental health. Valuing the knowledge, skills, experience and good character of the elderly, giving full play to their expertise and roles, and encouraging them, on a voluntary basis and within their means, to engage in such social activities as disseminating cultural and scientific knowledge, participating in the development and application of science and technology, and organizing social welfare undertakings. (The Ministry of Civil Affairs, the Health Commission, and the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security are responsible for this according to their division of responsibilities, and local people's governments at all levels are responsible for this.)
(23) Vigorously develop education for the elderly. Priority is given to the development of community education for the elderly, and the establishment of a sound "county (city, district) - township (street) - village (neighborhood committee)" three-tier community education for the elderly network, so as to make it convenient for the elderly to study nearby. A national gerontological education public ****service platform has been established, encouraging various types of educational institutions to organize or participate in gerontological education in a variety of forms, promoting the enjoyment of gerontological education resources, curricula, and teachers***, and exploring new modes of combining education with nourishment, so as to provide support for communities, gerontological educational institutions, and pension service institutions. Actively exploring ways and means for departments, industrial enterprises and universities to organize universities for the elderly to serve the society. (The Ministry of Education, the Health Commission, the Central Organization Department, the Ministry of Civil Affairs in accordance with the division of responsibilities)
Sixth, to promote the construction of elderly service infrastructure
(twenty-fourth) the implementation of the special needs of the people in the provision of services and facilities (homes) renovation and upgrading project. Mending the shortcomings of rural pension infrastructure and upgrading the construction standards of special-needs persons' support service facilities (homes for the elderly) will be incorporated into the work of poverty alleviation and rural revitalization strategies. (c) Realizing centralized support services. Gradually transforming special-needs nursing service facilities (homes for the aged) into regional old-age service centers. (The Ministry of Civil Affairs and the Development and Reform Commission are responsible for this according to their division of responsibilities, and local people's governments at all levels are responsible for this.)
(25) The implementation of the fire safety standardization project for privately-run elderly care institutions. From 2019, the lottery public welfare funds used by the Ministry of Civil Affairs at this level and by local governments at all levels for social welfare undertakings will take the form of awards in lieu of subsidies to guide and help the stock of privately-run nursing institutions to configure fire facilities and equipment in accordance with national engineering and construction fire safety technical standards, and to carry out rectification and improvement of major hidden fire hazards. For buildings that are difficult to set up automatic fire-fighting systems due to a small total floor area or restrictions on conditions, they will strengthen physical and technical defense measures, install independent smoke detection alarms and local application of automatic sprinkler systems in the service users' accommodations, main activity areas and rehabilitation and medical rooms, and equip emergency lighting equipment and fire extinguishers. (The Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Civil Affairs, and the Ministry of Emergency Response are responsible for this according to their respective responsibilities.)
(26) Implementing a project to retrofit the homes of the elderly with ageing features By the end of 2020, government subsidies will be provided to all families of the elderly, disabled, and handicapped who have been included in the scope of the Special Hardship Subsidy Program and the Establishment of Recorded Cards, and the retrofits will be carried out in accordance with the Barrier-Free Design Guidelines. Places with the necessary conditions can actively guide urban and rural households of older persons to carry out ageing-adapted renovations, in accordance with the needs of older persons for social interaction and daily life, and in conjunction with the renovation of old neighborhoods and other locally adapted measures. (The Ministry of Civil Affairs, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, the Ministry of Finance, the Health Commission, the Poverty Alleviation Office, and the China Disabled Persons' Federation are responsible for this according to their respective responsibilities, and the local people's governments at all levels are responsible for this)
(27) Implementing the requirements for planning and construction of senior care facilities on a zonal and hierarchical basis, and carrying out supervisory inspections of senior care facilities planning and construction nationwide in 2019, with a focus on checking and rectifying the planning and construction of new residential communities with The focus will be on checking and rectifying problems such as failure to prepare plans, failure to implement the "four synchronizations" (synchronous planning, synchronous construction, synchronous acceptance and synchronous delivery) of newly built residential communities with ancillary senior care facilities, failure to meet the standards of community senior care facilities, and failure to hand over or make effective use of the completed senior care facilities. Improve the "four synchronization" work rules, clarify the responsibilities of the civil affairs departments in the "four synchronization", and perform supervisory duties by the civil affairs departments of the elderly service facilities that have been delivered to the property owners to ensure the use of elderly services. Where there are problems such as slowing down, scaling down, stopping, not building and building without delivery of ancillary elderly service facilities, the construction unit shall not organize the completion and acceptance of the project before rectification is put in place. In accordance with relevant national standards and norms, the construction of community home-based elderly care service facilities will be included in the scope of urban and rural community supporting housing construction. For vacant public rental housing, it can explore the possibility of allowing free provision to social forces for them to carry out services such as day care, rehabilitation care, meal assistance, elderly education and other services for the elderly in the community. Municipal and county governments should formulate policies and measures for integrating unused facilities to be transformed into elderly service facilities; where real estate registration is required in the integration and transformation, the real estate registration agency should expedite the registration procedures in accordance with the law. Promote the reform of training centers and convalescent institutions belonging to state-owned enterprises, and accelerate the integration of resources and centralized operation of those that have the conditions for the provision of senior care services. Where a single building with a floor area of less than 1,000 square meters or a part of a floor within a building is used to be transformed into a senior care service facility, under the premise of complying with the relevant national standards, it may no longer be required to issue a description of the recent relocation plan, a description of the temporary change of the building's use function, an environmental assessment approval document or a filing return receipt. If the total number of elderly service facilities is insufficient or the planning is lagging behind, it should be improved in the preparation or modification of the master plan of cities and towns, and cities above the prefectural level that are in a position to do so should prepare special plans for elderly service facilities. (The Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, the Ministry of Natural Resources, the Ministry of Ecology, the Ministry of Civil Affairs, and the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission are responsible for this according to their respective responsibilities, and the local people's governments at all levels are responsible for this.)
(xxviii) Improvement of the policy on the supply of land for senior care facilities. Non-profit elderly service organizations can apply for land allocation on the basis of registration certificates of social service organizations issued by the registration authority and other statutory materials, and the natural resources and civil affairs departments should actively coordinate the implementation of the land allocation policy. Localities are encouraged to explore the use of collective construction land for the development of senior care service facilities. Where the stock of commercial service land and other land is used for the construction of senior care service facilities, it is permitted to adjust the land and planning requirements such as the average household size, the lease term, the ratio of parking spaces and the fire audit in accordance with the requirements of ageing-friendly design. (The Ministry of Natural Resources, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, and the Ministry of Civil Affairs are responsible for this according to their division of responsibilities, and local people's governments at all levels are responsible for this.)
The State Council has established an inter-ministerial joint conference system for senior care services led by the Ministry of Civil Affairs. All localities and relevant departments should strengthen the implementation of work responsibilities, improve the work mechanism of elderly services led by the Party committee, led by the government, responsible by departments and participated by the society, and strengthen the convergence of central and local work. The main responsible comrades should personally ask questions, and the responsible comrades in charge should take care of the implementation. The implementation of elderly service policies will be included in the scope of the government's annual performance appraisal, and those who are proactive in implementing elderly service policies and who have achieved significant results in the construction of the elderly service system will be given tilted support in arranging financial subsidies and funds for the construction of the relevant infrastructure, and in selecting relevant pilot projects, and will be incentivized to receive recognition. Each region should enrich and strengthen the grassroots elderly work force, and strengthen the regional elderly service resources coordination and management.
The General Office of the State Council ?
March 29, 2019 ?