Guizhou cooperates with France on elderly care service

An international seminar on elderly care services was held in Guiyang, capital of Southwest China's Guizhou province, from July 10 to 11, with experts and company representatives from China and France in attendance to discuss elderly care methods and systems.

The seminar is considered a key part of the loan agreement signed between the World Bank, the French Development Agency (AFD), and Guizhou in June, which will allow Guizhou to take the successful elderly care experiences in other countries for reference, and optimize the elderly care service system in Guizhou.

According to the agreement, Guizhou will receive $350 million from the World Bank and 100 million euros ($112.65 million) from the AFD to build a smart elderly care service platform, attract talents, purchase elderly care services, improve elderly care service institutions, and set regulations for elderly care service management systems.

Data shows that Guizhou has entered the stage of an aging society in 2003. By the end of 2018, the population over 60 years old reached 5.78 million, occupying 16.08 percent of the permanent resident population in Guizhou, which means an increasing demand for elderly care services.

In recent years, Guizhou has made developing elderly care services as one of its priorities. It has promoted an elderly care service system integrating home-based care, community support, and elderly care service institutions.

To date, Guizhou has built 4,200 elderly care service institutions in rural areas, as well as 1,051 elderly care service centers and 359 day care centers for the elderly in urban areas.

In addition, 92.5 percent of the elderly care service institutions have cooperated with medical institutions, and 396 elderly care service institutions have been equipped with medical institutions inside them.