Zhou Jianshe:

Due to time constraints, we'll take one last question.

Nanfang Daily, Nanfang Plus:

The welfare of the elderly and children affects people's livelihoods and well-being, touching the lives of hundreds of millions of families and therefore drawing significant public attention. Could you share what policy measures the draft outline of the 15th Five-Year Plan contains in this regard? Thank you.

Zheng Bei:

The welfare of the elderly and children is indeed a major concern for many families. I'll hand over to Mr. Liu to respond.

Liu Dechun:

Thank you for your question. General Secretary Xi Jinping has noted that the elderly are our treasure and children are our future. Services for the elderly and children are a practical issue of great public concern, and a key area for investment in people during the 15th Five-Year Plan period. The draft outline of the 15th Five-Year Plan devotes two dedicated chapters to actively addressing population aging and building a childbirth-friendly society. Mr. Zheng has just outlined the goals for elderly and child services. I will now walk us through the specific tasks and measures.

In terms of actively addressing population aging, we have the following: The first priority is ensuring dignified care for the elderly in their later years. We will improve the mechanism for determining and adjusting basic pension insurance benefits, gradually raise the basic pension for urban and rural residents, and advance the development of long-term care insurance. We will also develop community-embedded elderly care services, home-based care beds, and mutual-aid care models. At the same time, we will renovate and upgrade 2,000 public elderly care facilities, raising the share of nursing-type beds to 73%. Second, we will support the elderly in continuing to contribute to society. We will strengthen the age-friendly renovations of public facilities, create diverse employment opportunities suitable to older workers, optimize age limits in employment and social security, and carry out the "Silver Age Action" initiative to create better conditions for elderly participation in social activities. Third, we will help the elderly to enjoy their later years to the fullest. We will strengthen preferential treatment and rights protection for the elderly, foster and grow the silver economy, expand the range of age-friendly products and services, and develop seniors universities to meet their cultural and intellectual needs, further enhancing their sense of fulfillment and well-being.

In terms of building a childbirth-friendly society, the draft outline sets out the following measures: First, we will strengthen maternity support. We will expand coverage of the maternity insurance system, raise the level of medical expense reimbursement for prenatal check-ups, regulate and promote the orderly application of assisted reproductive technology, and fully implement the maternity leave system. These efforts will provide better basic protection for families with newborns. Second, we will improve child care services. We will support kindergartens in developing integrated child care and preschool services, increase the supply of public child care slots, and encourage non-governmental providers to offer diverse and affordable child care services. We will also achieve full coverage of city-level comprehensive child care service centers and raise the enrollment rate of infants under 3 years old by 6 percentage points, making public-interest child care services more accessible and convenient. Third, we will reduce the burden of child-rearing. We will leverage policies such as special additional deductions for personal income tax, explore establishing a dynamic adjustment mechanism for child care subsidies, and improve family development policies. We will also increase support for multi-child families in education, housing and other areas, effectively reducing the costs of childbirth, child-rearing and education.

In addition, the draft outline dedicates a full section to optimizing and upgrading elderly and child services, setting out five key priority areas: elderly care institutions, community-based elderly care, the integration of medical care and elderly care, public-interest child care, and maternity medical services. By coordinating hard investment and soft development, we will optimize and upgrade capacity for elderly care and child care services, better serving hundreds of millions of families and caring for both the elderly and children. Thank you.

Zhou Jianshe:

Thank you to all speakers and journalists. Today's press conference is hereby concluded. Goodbye, everyone.

Translated and edited by Wang Xingguang, Yang Xi, Li Congrong, Yan Xiaojing, Zhang Yuxin. Chen Xinyan, Liu Caiyi, Wang Ziteng, Xu Kailin, Zhang Tingting, Liao Jiaxin, Yang Chuanli, Wang Yiming, Li Huiru, Wang Qian, Wang Wei, Huang Shan, Li Xiao, Gong Yingchun, Zhou Jing, Ma Yujia, Li Sitong, Mi Xingang, David Ball, Jay Birbeck, and Tudor Finneran. In case of any discrepancy between the English and Chinese texts, the Chinese version is deemed to prevail.