CCTV News: On February 28, the State Council Information Office held a regular briefing on the State Council’s policies to introduce the relevant situation of the State Council departments’ handling of the suggestions of the National People’s Congress deputies and the proposals of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference in 2024.

At the meeting, Tang Chengpei, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, said that the development of community elderly care "at the doorstep" can allow the elderly to enjoy a happy old age in a nearby environment, which is in line with our country's national conditions and also meet the expectations of the elderly. Last year, the Ministry of Civil Affairs hosted a total of 87 related proposals of this type. The Ministry of Civil Affairs attaches great importance to these valuable opinions and suggestions, and incorporates some of them into the drafting of the opinions of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council on deepening the reform and development of elderly care services, and promotes the gathering of elderly care service resources around, around, and at the bed of the elderly, and strives to allow the elderly to enjoy "at the doorstep" elderly care services. Specifically:

First, steadily improve the service network and improve service capabilities. Focus on building a three-level elderly care service network, strengthen the construction of elderly care service capabilities in townships (streets), improve village (community) elderly care service facilities and stations, actively build a "quarter of an hour" home and community elderly care service circle, and promote the sinking of elderly care service resources. At present, 367,000 community elderly care service institutions and facilities have been built nationwide, and 446 demonstration elderly care service networks have been built at the county and district level.

The second is to continue to do a good job in providing honest things and optimize service supply. Focusing on the urgent needs of the elderly, we have implemented the action to improve basic elderly care services at home and community. In recent years, we have supported the construction of 366,000 home-based elderly care beds, and provided 675,000 home-based elderly care services such as bathing, cleaning, medical assistance, mobility assistance, and emergency assistance. We have implemented the home-based elderly renovation project, and completed the home-based elderly renovation of 2.08 million elderly people in special difficulties, and at the same time, we have supported the home-based elderly renovation of 840,000 elderly people in society; actively developed elderly meal assistance services, and the number of elderly meal assistance sites across the country has reached 75,000, and the network of elderly meal assistance services has been continuously expanded, the service model has become increasingly rich, and the service quality has been continuously improved.

The third is to continuously improve support policies and cultivate a good market environment. In conjunction with relevant departments, we will introduce a series of support policies such as land planning, facility construction, fiscal investment, and tax and fee preferential treatment to promote the development of home and community elderly care services. Guide all localities to strictly implement the requirements of "four synchronizations" of building elderly care service facilities in newly built residential areas, and steadily increase and expand the space of community elderly care service facilities. Actively cultivate and develop professional, chain and branded community elderly care service institutions.

The fourth is to strengthen service supervision and ensure quality and safety. Carry out three-year action plan to solve the root causes of safety production in the field of elderly care services to prevent and resolve potential risks of home and community elderly care services. Formulate and issue a batch of national and industry standards for home and community elderly care services to standardize the development of home and community elderly care services. Guide local governments to strengthen the professional ethics construction and professional skills training of home and community elderly care service practitioners, and continuously improve service quality and ensure safety.

Tang Chengpei said that in the next step, the civil affairs department will fully implement 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", promote the acceleration of the construction of a three-level elderly care service network covering urban and rural areas, expand the effective supply of community elderly care services, and rely on the community to provide strong support for home-based elderly care, and better ensure that the elderly have a place to support.