China is the country with the largest number of older people in the world (254 million in 2019) and is ageing very fast, with an estimated 402 million people expected to be over 60 by 2040. In the GOLTC Long-Term Care system profile for Mainland China, Ruru Ping (Hitotsubashi University) and Bo Hu (Care Policy and Evaluation Centre (CPEC), London School of Economics and Political Science) describe a system characterised by primary reliance on family care, rapid growth of the residential care sector, under-developed community and home-based care, and an increasing role for the private sector.

Key recent and ongoing reforms:

To address previous fragmentation of responsibilities the central government launched a major reform in 2023, with the Ministry of Civil Affairs becoming the central agency responsible for care, overseeing the National Committee on Ageing where 32 ministries are represented through vice-ministers.

With regards financing, China has been piloting social Long-Term Care (LTC) insurance in selected cities since 2016 and aims to develop a national LTC social insurance system in the future.

There are also important reforms aiming to integrate health and LTC, strengthening home and community-based care, ensuring the provision of basic LTC services and enhancing the capacity of the formal LTC workforce.

Click here to read the new LTC system profile for Mainland China
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