As China's elderly population continues to grow, elderly care services are receiving increasing attention across society. On September 4th, at a press conference held by the State Administration for Market Regulation, it was announced that the administration, together with the Ministry of Civil Affairs, has formulated and released two mandatory national standards: the "Basic Specifications for Elderly Care Institutions" and the "Criteria for Determining Major Accident Hazards in Elderly Care Institutions." These standards aim to effectively safeguard the safety of elderly care services and the health rights of the elderly population.
The two mandatory national standards will officially take effect on August 1, 2027, with a one-year transition period provided. Zhang Jun, Deputy Director of the Elderly Care Services Department under the Ministry of Civil Affairs, pointed out that while elderly care services have developed rapidly in recent years, issues such as poor operational standards, irregular service management, and prominent safety hazards in some institutions cannot be overlooked. Therefore, it is necessary to formulate and publish unified mandatory national standards to establish baseline requirements and safety benchmarks for the operation of elderly care institutions.
On one hand, the standards clarify the necessary conditions, basic services, fundamental settings, and management requirements that elderly care institutions must possess throughout their entire lifecycle, from establishment and operation to exit. This provides clear guidance for existing institutions to standardize their operations, rectify shortcomings, and improve their services. On the other hand, the standards focus on key aspects such as site selection, facility and equipment configuration, and staffing ratios, thereby defining clear admission criteria for newly established institutions.
The introduction of these two standards marks an important step in promoting the transformation and upgrading of elderly care institutions toward greater standardization, professionalism, and normalization. According to reports, the two standards comprehensively summarize lessons learned from major liability accidents and natural disasters in elderly care institutions in recent years, systematically review weaknesses in quality and safety identified through inspections and rectification efforts, integrate and optimize key management requirements previously scattered across fire safety, construction, food safety, and other related areas, and incorporate certain recommended standards that have been widely implemented with positive results. These efforts strengthen the coordination between different standards and build a comprehensive standard system with full coverage and complete chain regulation.
In addition, the standards provide a statutory technical basis for joint law enforcement inspections by relevant departments and for the identification and rectification of hidden dangers. They enhance coordination and collaboration among laws, regulations, and mandatory standards related to the service management of elderly care institutions. Specifically, the "Basic Specifications for Elderly Care Institutions" sets bottom-line requirements for safety and service quality across the entire lifecycle of institutions, from establishment and operation to exit. The standard systematically puts forward 90 specific requirements covering seven aspects: site selection and building, facilities and equipment, admission and discharge management, basic services, safety management, operational management, and evaluation and improvement.
The "Criteria for Determining Major Accident Hazards in Elderly Care Institutions," based on a summary of national safety management experiences in this sector, clarifies the procedures for identifying major accident hazards. Depending on the level of risk, major accident hazards that may exist in elderly care institutions are categorized into three types of determination rules: 25 direct determination factors, 28 comprehensive determination factors, and 2 categories of exclusion circumstances. Zhen Bingliang, Secretary-General of the National Technical Committee for Social Welfare Service Standardization, emphasized that elderly care institutions should compare themselves against the standards, develop itemized checklists, establish lists for problems, rectifications, and responsibilities, and address issues systematically. For matters that can be corrected immediately, institutions should tap into internal potential and complete rectification as soon as possible in accordance with standard requirements.
For issues involving building structures, site selection, fire safety, and other factors that are difficult to resolve in the short term, feasible rectification plans should be implemented step by step. During this period, risk prevention measures should be carried out simultaneously to ensure that services remain uninterrupted, quality does not decline, and safety is guaranteed. For institutions that have already met the standards, innovative implementation measures should be adopted to maintain and enhance compliance. Wang Yuhuan, Deputy Director of the Department of Technical Standards under the State Administration for Market Regulation, stated that in the next step, the administration will continue to work with the Ministry of Civil Affairs. Taking the release of the two mandatory elderly care service standards as an opportunity, they will focus on improving safety levels and service quality, intensify the implementation of the two standards, accelerate the development of supporting standards, strengthen regulation in the elderly care sector, enhance market supervision and law enforcement, and crack down on illegal acts that infringe upon the rights and interests of the elderly.