Beijing, June 7 (IANS) China recently introduced the “mutual aid elder care” programme and presented it as an innovative community-based solution, but analysts and social policy observers have said that the initiative showcases increasing financial pressure and structural weakness in China’s ageing welfare system, as per a report.

The policy framework introduced by China’s Ministry of Civil Affairs and 10 other state departments in April proposed a network of community-based support centres where relatively healthy retired people in their 60s would help assist elderly people with basic daily care and social support. Through the plan, China wants to set up mutual-aid elder care facilities in 70 per cent of urban and rural communities by 2030, before establishing a more institutionalised nationwide system by 2035, according to a report in Nepal-based media outlet Hamrakura.

“Yet behind the language of community solidarity lay a far more serious reality. China was confronting one of the fastest demographic transitions in the world, with shrinking birth rates, a rapidly ageing population, widening pension inequality and growing pressure on local government finances. For many observers, the new policy appeared less like a welfare expansion and more like an attempt to shift responsibility for elder care away from the state and onto already strained communities,” as per the report.

Earlier this year, the data released by China’s National Bureau of Statistics showed that China’s population aged 60 years and above had reached approximately 323 million by the end of 2025, roughly 23 per cent of the total population. At the same time, the birth rate in China continued to witness a drop. During the year, only 7.92 million births were recorded, while the natural population growth remained negative.

For the first time in modern Chinese history, people who are aged 65 years and above accounted for a larger share of the population than children aged 14 years and below. These figures showcased a demographic reversal for a nation that spent decades depending on a massive working-age population to push industrial growth and economic expansion.

“The central premise of the programme — elderly citizens caring for even older citizens — raised questions about sustainability from the outset. Chinese authorities framed the initiative as a revival of community solidarity and neighbourly support. But analysts warned that relying heavily on volunteers and informal caregiving networks exposed the weakness of the broader welfare system. Many of the retirees expected to provide care were themselves approaching old age, often with limited income and healthcare support,” the Hamrakura report said.

“In rural areas already suffering from labour shortages and population decline, communities lacked sufficient trained personnel, medical infrastructure and financial subsidies to support long-term care needs. Critics argued that the programme effectively transferred responsibility from the state onto local communities that were already under severe social and economic strain. The challenge was expected to intensify dramatically in the coming decades,” it added.

Analysts highlighted a structural contradiction in the policy, noting that today’s caregivers would eventually become care receivers tomorrow. A system that relies on ageing volunteers, minimal subsidies and informal relationships risks becoming increasingly fragile as demographic pressures increase, they stressed.

–IANS

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