The Shenzhen Municipal People’s Congress (MPC), the city’s legislature, would fully exercise its duties to support the growth of a high-level elderly care service system in the city, according to a work meeting held at the Civic Center in Futian District yesterday.
The meeting was attended by members of the Shenzhen MPC Standing Committee, MPC deputies, officials from municipal government agencies, as well as representatives from the people’s congresses in various districts and Dapeng New Area.
Luo Wenzhi, director of the Standing Committee of the Shenzhen Municipal People’s Congress, gave a speech at the meeting following introductions regarding the initiatives taken by the MPC Standing Committee, the people’s congresses of Futian, Luohu, Nanshan and Bao’an districts, and Shum Yip Group Ltd. to improve elderly care services.
According to Luo, Shenzhen has progressed in recent years toward fostering the development of a high-level elderly care service system, which is evident in the enhancement of the institutional guarantee system, the quality of elderly care services and the sense of gain among senior citizens.
He pointed out that there is still room for improvement in terms of issues and weak links, which are mainly manifested in service facilities and network, the integration and sharing of resources and information, the popularity of various care services and the talent shortage in elderly care.
Luo offered six suggestions on further improving the development of a high-level elderly care service system in the city, which include taking the enhancement of elderly care services as a major political task and a livelihood project, strengthening top-level design, optimizing service supply, innovating service modes, cultivating and luring more talents and shouldering political responsibility to pool wisdom.
Ni Chidan, dean of the Shenzhen Elderly Healthcare College at Shenzhen Polytechnic, said in an interview yesterday that talents are crucial to the professional level of elderly care services. The shortage of such talents has been a prominent issue in many countries and regions.
“Shenzhen has been looking for solutions very early on. In June 2018, the Shenzhen Elderly Healthcare College was established, specializing in the training of elderly care talents. After several years of development, we have developed certain models for talent training,” Ni said.
Shenzhen had 940,700 senior adults living permanently in the city as of the seventh population census that ended in 2022, with an aging rate of 5.36%. The city is anticipated to become an aging society during the 16th Five-Year Plan period (2031-2035).
Shenzhen’s elderly care service came in eighth place out of the 120 cities monitored in the country, according to a report on national public service quality released in early 2022.