China improves elderly care services to cope with rapidly aging population

China has expanded its elderly care services over recent years to cope with its rapidly aging population, with a particular emphasis on the development of at-home and community-based care.

As of the end of June this year, the country had built a total of 410,000 elderly care institutions and facilities, doubling the level in 2019, the data from the Ministry of Civil Affairs showed on Monday.

Of these, 369,000 were community-based elderly care institutions and facilities, marking a 120-percent increase over 2019.

The country has also stepped up efforts to cultivate elderly care talents. As of the end of 2023, colleges and universities nationwide had opened more than 770 majors related to nursing and elderly care service management.

From 2020 to 2022, the country trained a total of 2.48 million professional elderly care workers, 10,000 nursing home directors, and 100,000 full-time and part-time senior social workers.

"Going forward, the Ministry of Civil Affairs and the Office of the National Working Committee on Aging will promote the transformation of the work related to senior citizens towards people's whole-life-cycle preparation for elderly care. We will also coordinate and improve the social security, elderly care service and health support systems, optimize the elderly assistance and social welfare systems, deepen the reform and development of elderly care services, expand the scale and impact of the 'Silver Age Action', and guide senior citizens to actively participate in social activities," Liao Ming, deputy director of the elderly care service department of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, said at a press conference in Beijing on Monday.

The "Silver Age Action" is an initiative launched in 2003 with the goal of leveraging the expertise and knowledge of senior professionals across different domains to assist in the development of underdeveloped areas.

Official data showed that there were 297 million people aged 60 and above in the country at the end of 2023, accounting for 21.1 percent of the total population. The number of people aged 65 and above reached 217 million, or 15.4 percent of the total.

China improves elderly care services to cope with rapidly aging population

Technology is a "double-edged sword" that needs coordination between development and security, and between innovation and risk control so as to benefit all nations and their people, said Fu Cong, China's permanent representative to the United Nations, at a Security Council meeting on Monday.

Fu highlighted that while technology offers enormous opportunities, it also presents new challenges to global peace and security. He criticized some countries for generalizing national security concepts, using them to suppress foreign high-tech firms.

The Chinese envoy condemned actions such as promoting "decoupling" and restricting trade and scientific exchanges by organizing exclusive alliances that exclude specific countries.

"Such actions are turning 'small yards with high fences' into 'big yards with iron curtains', disrupting the stability of global industrial and supply chains, widening development gaps, and hindering technological progress. What makes us particularly concerned is that these artificial divisions pose greater risks to international peace and security than the inherent risks of technology itself, threatening to ultimately drag the world into the abyss of confrontation," said Fu.

Fu urged nations to adopt an open and inclusive approach, leveraging the UN leadership in global tech governance and using the "Pact for the Future" framework to promote shared development, security, and progress.

Chinese envoy calls for open, inclusive approach for technology development