China's elderly care robot market growing rapidly: report

China's elderly care robot industry is projected to surpass 10 billion yuan (about 1.47 billion U.S. dollars) in 2026, with the market maturing and transitioning from technological verification phase to large-scale application, according to a report released on Tuesday by China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT).

According to the MIIT, the rapid expansion of the market is being driven primarily by an aging population and the mismatch between the supply and demand for elderly care services.

"As the aging process of the population continues to accelerate, the shortage of nursing staff becomes a long-term challenge and the demand for intelligent technologies and products among the elderly becomes increasingly urgent. Intelligent elderly care service robots have emerged as an innovative solution to traditional aging-related issues, and their future market potential is expected to be very broad," said Liu Wenqiang, vice president of the China Center for Information Industry Development.

After years of development, China's elderly care robot industry has built a full-fledged industrial chain ecosystem -- covering everything from research and development of core components and complete machine manufacturing to system integration and operational services.

Continuous breakthroughs have been made in key human-robot interaction technologies including multimodal perception, AI algorithms, and high-precision motion control. Domestically produced products have now reached internationally advanced levels in core functions such as fall detection, remote monitoring, and rehabilitation training.

The capabilities of these robots have expanded far beyond early basic tasks such as cleaning or meal delivery. Today, they offer a broad range of services -- including daily living assistance, health monitoring, emotional companionship, rehabilitation support, and helping to move or transfer seniors. That makes them suitable for the diverse needs of elderly individuals with different health conditions.

"Through recent years of follow-up research, continuous efforts are needed in areas such as technology, application scenarios, standards, and safety to rapidly improve the quality of robots. It is important to guide the integration and application of new technologies, like large AI models, new materials, and secure human-robot interaction, into elderly care service robots, while optimizing and upgrading them based on the specific pain points and needs of the elderly population," said Liu.

Forecasts indicate that professional nursing institutions will remain the largest market for elderly care robots, accounting for about 50 percent of demand. Community-based elderly care follows with roughly 30 percent.

While home-based care currently accounts for the smallest share, approximately 20 percent, it is seeing the most significant growth.

The elderly care robot sector is growing at an average annual rate of about 32 percent, while the market for companion robots is seeing even faster growth, at around 42 percent per year.

By 2025, China's population aged 60 and above had reached 323.38 million, with more than 130 million seniors living alone or as so-called "empty-nesters" whose children have moved out of the family home.

China's elderly care robot market growing rapidly: report

The Global Partnership for Poverty Alleviation and Development (GPPAD) was officially launched on Wednesday at the ongoing 2026 Global Poverty Reduction and Development Forum in Beijing, according to an announcement made at the event.

Jointly initiated by China, 53 other countries, and nine international organizations, the GPPAD marks a milestone in global poverty-reduction efforts, the announcement said.

While encouraging members to pursue poverty-reduction and development strategies suited to their own conditions, the GPPAD will promote exchanges of experience in poverty reduction and governance, and jointly explore pathways to eradicate poverty at its roots, according to the announcement.

The partnership welcomes the participation of governments, international organizations, the private sector, academia and media institutions, to foster a fair, inclusive, non-discriminatory and sustainable development environment together, the announcement added.

Speaking at the forum, Chinese Vice Premier Liu Guozhong said that China will support the GPPAD in strengthening policy dialogue, technical demonstrations and talent training, to help developing countries build stronger poverty-reduction capacity.

Scholars and government officials hailed the importance of this global effort in reducing poverty.

"Today, you have the opportunity of countries coming together to say, in a way we failed, but we don't have to. We can work together through partnership to address issues that collectively as a globe, we said we would do eight years ago, whatever it is, 10 years ago, but have not done so. So it's importance is this opportunity, this celebration of working together, we can really achieve things," said Robert Walker, Professor of the School of Social Development and Public Policy of Beijing Normal University, who is also an Emeritus Fellow at Green Templeton College at the University of Oxford.

"Within this platform, we will have access to more knowledge, partnerships, and economic and social cooperation, allowing us to learn from the experience of China and other countries, so that we can accelerate the pace and make the commitment. The problem of poverty is a global problem for humanity, so the strategies for reducing it must also be global strategies, concerted strategies, that allow, first, to end hunger, drastically reducing the level of poverty by 2030," said Salimo Ismael Vala, Minister of Planning and Development of Mozambique.

Global partnership launched in Beijing to fight poverty, promote development