China to increase support for elderly care service providers

China's central authorities have rolled out measures to offer more support to elder care service providers, according to guidelines made public Tuesday.

Released by eight central departments including the Ministry of Civil Affairs, the document aims to drive the reform of elderly care services, improve the well-being of senior citizens, and fuel the growth of silver economy.

The policy initiative comes amid a rapidly aging society in China. Data shows that as of the end of 2024, the number of people aged 60 and above in the country had hit 310 million. By 2035, this demographic is projected to exceed 400 million.

The guidelines emphasize expanding community-based care services by introducing chain-operated elderly care providers and encouraging household service companies to develop tailored home care solutions that meet the specific needs of seniors as demand continues to grow.

At the press conference elaborating on the measures, Li Banghua, deputy director of the Department of Elderly Care at the Ministry of Civil Affairs, said that civil affairs departments at all levels of government should regularly publish information on the elderly population and the distribution and utilization of elderly care service facilities, and provide convenient and efficient consultation and guidance services to elderly care service providers within their administrative regions.

An industry cultivation and incubation mechanism should be established to encourage elderly care service providers to apply for specialized small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) status and support, he noted.

"To address site shortages for providers, we must ensure that elderly care service facilities have land and suitable locations available. We must also optimize financial support. In regions which meet certain conditions, local governments should improve subsidy policies for bed construction and operation, and implement a dynamic monitoring mechanism with a unique 'one bed, one code' system to ensure precise implementation of subsidies and rapid access to funds, thereby alleviating the financial pressure on service providers," he said.

China to increase support for elderly care service providers

China's blue-chip CSI 300 Index made modest gains in the past week thanks to the huge electrification campaign that reduces the country's exposure to the volatile oil price as the continuing conflict in the Middle East enters the second week, said an analyst on Friday.

Chinese stocks closed lower on Friday, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index down 0.81 percent to 4,095.45 points.

Timothy Pope, a market analyst for China Global Television Network, said the CSI 300 Index made modest gains despite a rough week for both Chinese and global stock markets.

"The conflict in the Middle East really shows no sign of winding down and it has been as you said another rough week for the global markets. Today the Shanghai Composite Index closed down 0.8 percent, and ended lower for the week as well, but the blue-chip CSI 300 Index actually managed to make some modest gains this week. And that fits what we've been hearing from analysts and investment banks, including Morgan Stanley and UBS. They've said that China's got less oil exposure than other economies. This is partly because of the huge electrification campaign which has been happening in China from family cars to road haulage, and also just the total energy mix here. But we know that oil isn't the only thing that's not getting out of the Middle East at the moment. Fertilizer has emerged as another big disruption point and we have seen in the last 48 hours China already begin early releases of fertilizer reserves ahead of the spring planting season. With all that in the mix we have seen the likes of Morgan Stanley and UBS touting A-shares as a diversification option and a resilient market in this risk-off investment environment," said Pope.

"Sector-wise today we saw some consumer stocks rising -- led by liquor makers, in particular, Kweichow Moutai. There were also some limited gains for Chinese real estate and financial firms. But with the oil price still extremely volatile, Chinese resources and energy shares pulled back today to become the two worst-performing sectors," said Pope.

Chinese blue-chip stocks make gains amid a rough week for global markets: analyst