I. General Requirements

Adhere to the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, fully implement the spirit of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China and the Second and Third Plenary Sessions of the 20th Central Committee, integrate the concepts of active aging and healthy aging into the entire process of economic and social development, adhere to Party leadership and government dominance, deepen reforms and policy guidance, be demand-driven and service-oriented, provide classified guidance and encourage collective participation, optimize and improve policies, regulations, safeguards, and social environment for elderly social participation, comprehensively clear unreasonable regulations that hinder the elderly from continuing to play their roles, enable the elderly to be well-cared for, enjoy their old age, and also make contributions, thus powerfully supporting the implementation of the national strategy for actively responding to population aging.

By 2029, the policy and legal environment supporting elderly social participation will be initially established, unreasonable regulations hindering the elderly from continuing to play their roles will be cleared, long-term mechanisms for elderly volunteer services such as the "Silver Age Action" will be basically formed, the supply of education, cultural, and sports services for the elderly will be more efficient, and the elderly's social participation capabilities will gradually improve. By 2035, the elderly social participation service system will be more robust, diversified and personalized employment opportunities suitable for the elderly will be more abundant, the concept of active aging will become a consensus throughout society, elderly human resources will be effectively developed and utilized, and the roles of the elderly will be more fully leveraged.

II. Enhancing the Level of Political Participation for the Elderly

(I) Strengthen political guidance for the elderly. Carry out grassroots publicity and lectures on the Party's innovative theories for the elderly, and educate and guide the elderly to study and comprehend Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era. Regard the elderly as key groups for patriotic education, national conditions education on population aging, etc., strengthen publicity and interpretation of China's economic and social development, achievements in responding to population aging, and excellent traditional Chinese culture, further enhance the elderly's identification with the Party and the country, and consciously safeguard national interests, honor, and security. Give play to the role of veteran Party members in strengthening political guidance for the elderly.

(II) Safeguard the legitimate rights of the elderly, such as the right to know and the right to participate. When formulating or revising laws, regulations, rules, public policies, and standards for barrier-free environment construction that involve major issues concerning the rights and interests of the elderly, the opinions of the elderly and elderly organizations should be heard. Through government transparency, enable the elderly to participate to a greater extent in the formulation, implementation, and supervision of policies concerning the elderly, and improve the responsiveness of government in formulating public policies and managing public services related to the elderly.

III. Promoting Regular and Long-term Development of Elderly Volunteer Services

(III) Strengthen the mobilization of volunteer services. Give play to the role of grassroots Party organizations and veteran Party members to guide and motivate elderly people to actively participate in volunteer services. Encourage Party and government organs at all levels, state-owned enterprises and public institutions, and mass organizations to support their retired personnel in carrying out volunteer services within their respective fields, systems, and units. Strengthen online and offline linkage, and regularly mobilize the elderly to participate in village (community) volunteer services nearby. Give play to the exemplary and leading role of elderly advanced models, "Five Old" personnel, and key figures in elderly mass activities, guide elderly volunteers from all walks of life, including education, science and technology, health, agriculture, culture, and sports, to serve society using their expertise.

(IV) Enrich the content of volunteer services. Focus on implementing national development strategies, and deeply promote volunteer services in areas such as active response to population aging, rural revitalization, revitalizing the country through science and education, Healthy China, and national fitness. Focus on people's livelihood needs, actively organize volunteer services such as assisting the vulnerable and disabled, caring for the elderly and young, health, teaching support and student aid, and cultural benefits. Promote excellent family traditions, guide elderly family members and the surrounding community to strengthen their ideals and beliefs, encourage upward and positive progress, and continuously carry out volunteer service activities such as neighborhood watch, legal publicity, changing customs and practices, and dispute mediation to help improve social governance efficiency.

(5) Innovate volunteer service models. Focus on project leadership, promote the project-based operation of elderly volunteer services, optimize and strengthen brands such as the "Silver Age Action" elderly volunteer service, and support the development of volunteer service projects with regional characteristics and industry characteristics. Highlight concentrated services, and organize volunteer service activities with clear themes and rich content during important festivals such as the Spring Festival and the Double Ninth Festival. Grasp daily services. Taking the opportunity to do "small things" for the people, focusing on elderly people, disabled people, and rural left-behind children with special difficulties, adopt menu-style services, "pairing + relay," and "the elderly helping the elderly" methods to provide continuous and uninterrupted volunteer services.

(6) Improve volunteer service support. Guide the standardized construction of elderly volunteer service organizations to improve internal governance efficiency and professional service levels. Strengthen volunteer service training to help elderly volunteers, volunteer service organizations, and volunteer service workers improve their political literacy and skills. Integrate various grassroots elderly volunteer service sites to promote synergy. Do a good job in the registration and certification of elderly volunteers and volunteer service organizations, volunteer service records, and the issuance of certificates. Adhere to the principle of "who recruits, who is responsible, who uses, who guarantees," conduct assessments of the physical condition of elderly volunteers, provide materials, equipment, safety guarantees, and corresponding insurance, and improve insurance products and services suitable for elderly volunteers. Widely publicize advanced examples of elderly volunteer services, and encourage the use of service points and time savings to enhance the initiative and sense of honor of elderly volunteers.

IV. Improve the Quality of Elderly People's Participation in Social Activities

(7) Innovate the development of elderly education. Combining the construction of urban and rural community service systems, reasonably setting up grassroots elderly education learning points, promoting elderly education into villages (communities), encouraging privately-run elderly education institutions to serve village (community) learning points; promoting elderly education into elderly care service institutions, into the new era civilization practice centers, and into radio and television networks to expand the coverage of elderly education. Strengthen the construction of old cadre (elderly) universities and elderly science and technology universities. Strengthen the construction of national elderly universities, build a national elderly education public service platform, and strengthen the supply of high-quality learning resources. Continuously improve the elderly education curriculum system, strengthen the construction of the teacher resource pool, actively recruit industry experts and skilled craftsmen to meet the diversified needs of the elderly. Expand the content of elderly health education, popularize knowledge of nutritional diet, exercise and fitness, and mental health, promote elderly people and family members to practice a healthy lifestyle, and continuously improve the health literacy level of the elderly. Encourage social forces to participate in the development of inclusive elderly education, and encourage industries, enterprises, relevant social organizations, and individuals to establish elderly education development funds. Promote the integrated development of elderly education with elderly care services and culture, and expand the social interaction needs of the elderly.

(8) Enrich the supply of cultural services for the elderly. Give full play to the role of party and mass service centers, new-era civilization practice centers, and public cultural facilities, providing convenience for the elderly to participate in public cultural activities. Encourage and support relevant commercial cultural and entertainment venues to increase preferential time periods for the elderly. Expand the creation of cultural products suitable for the elderly, increase the service content and resources for the elderly in the implementation of cultural benefit projects, and create influential elderly cultural brand projects. Encourage the provision of free or discounted cable television viewing services for the elderly, continuously promote the governance of complex television operations, deepen and expand the "Reliving Classics" channel into elderly care institutions, and continuously improve the elderly's television viewing experience. Improve the elderly-friendly level of tourism service facilities, encourage the development of travel and elderly care, and "family travel" services that the elderly like, implement the replacement of age restrictions with health status, improve industry regulatory mechanisms, and develop elderly tourism insurance business.

(9) Strengthen the physical fitness work for the elderly. Fully consider the fitness needs of the elderly in the planning and construction of public sports facilities, support the free or low-cost opening of relevant venues and facilities, and encourage staggered use. Widely carry out physical fitness activities for the elderly, deeply explore the "sports +" model, and give full play to the comprehensive benefits of events and activities. Increase the training of grassroots sports workers serving the elderly, improve professional skills and service levels, give full play to the role of social sports instructors and retired sports teachers, athletes, coaches, and sports researchers, improve scientific fitness guidelines for the elderly, and strengthen guidance and assistance for the elderly's scientific fitness.

V. Strengthen the Guarantee of Elderly People's Social Participation

(10) Create diverse and personalized employment opportunities suitable for the elderly. Encourage local governments to establish elderly talent information banks or talent markets based on their actual conditions, cultivate and develop professional human resource service agencies for the silver-haired economy, and provide high-quality and efficient employment and career development services for the elderly. Guide public training bases, vocational training institutions, etc., to provide skills improvement services for elderly people in need, and guide vocational schools to actively develop employment and entrepreneurship training programs for the elderly. Support employers to re-employ retired professional and technical personnel in accordance with relevant regulations, and encourage retired teachers, doctors, scientific and technological workers, and other professional and technical personnel to continue to play their roles. Combining the development of emerging industries such as the silver-haired economy and the digital economy, cultivate new employment growth points for the elderly. Using hometown feelings as a link, attracting and supporting elderly entrepreneurs, experts, scholars, and skilled talents to contribute to rural revitalization. Provide agricultural socialized services for rural elderly people in need. Guide employers to legally guarantee that elderly people employed over the legal retirement age receive basic rights such as labor remuneration, rest and holidays, labor safety and hygiene, and work-related injury protection. Use public interest litigation and other mechanisms to effectively protect the equal employment rights of the elderly. Smooth channels for elderly people to safeguard their rights, explore the opening of green channels, and deal with illegal acts targeting the elderly according to law. Improve the legal aid cooperation mechanism and improve the quality of legal services for the elderly.

(11) Optimize the supporting environment for social participation. Improve the barrier-free and elderly-friendly level of public buildings, public places, transportation facilities, and residential area public service facilities, strengthen the elderly-friendly transformation of elderly families, carry out the "smart assistance for the elderly" action, and provide convenience for the elderly's social participation. Coordinate existing resources and build county (district) integrated elderly service centers (elderly activity centers) in a way that suits local conditions, expanding the supply of grassroots elderly social participation venues. Fully promote elderly accident insurance, adhere to the voluntary insurance of elderly individuals or family members, advocate that enterprises and institutions with conditions purchase accident insurance for retired employees within the policy scope, or provide appropriate subsidies for premiums. Give full play to the organizational role of village (community) committees and grassroots elderly organizations, and encourage social organizations and caring people to donate to purchase accident insurance for the elderly. Relying on villages (communities), open universities, and elderly universities to conduct theme training on family development capabilities, support relevant institutions and industry associations to develop public welfare courses and use Internet platforms for free access, help the elderly master skills such as infant care, dietary nutrition, and health management, and provide support for the elderly in intergenerational care, elderly care, and psychological counseling.

(12) Give full play to the supporting role of social organizations. Guide various elderly-related social organizations to give full play to their characteristics and advantages, organize and mobilize the elderly to participate in the development of various undertakings such as livelihood security, technological innovation, scientific popularization, cultural inheritance, rural revitalization, environmental governance, and national fitness in various forms. Strengthen the construction of grassroots elderly organizations, strengthen cultivation, incubation, and training guidance, improve activity conditions, and help grassroots elderly organizations provide information promotion, activity organization, ability training, and rights protection services for elderly people in need.

VI. Strengthen Organizational Implementation

Establish a sound working framework for elderly people's social participation, led by the Party committee, guided by the government, coordinated by various departments, and involving all parties. Party committees, organization departments, and propaganda departments should incorporate national education on population aging into cadre training, into the study of the Party committee (Party group) theoretical learning center group, and utilize radio, television, newspapers, and online audio-visual media to promote the importance of elderly people's participation in economic and social development and the typical deeds of those who remain active in their later years. This will cultivate a positive view of aging throughout society and create a favorable atmosphere that supports elderly people's social participation. Relevant departments should include promoting elderly people's social participation in their key work tasks, strengthen coordination and cooperation, and effectively organize and implement these tasks based on actual conditions. Civil affairs departments and offices on aging at all levels should effectively perform their comprehensive coordination functions, and ensure the overall promotion and implementation of the work.

Ministry of Civil Affairs, Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee, National Development and Reform Commission

Ministry of Education, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Finance

Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development

Ministry of Transport, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs

Ministry of Culture and Tourism, National Health Commission

State Administration for Market Regulation, Financial Regulatory Authority, State Administration of Radio and Television

General Administration of Sport of China, China Association for Science and Technology

China Association of Retired Persons, National Office on Aging

April 29, 2025