China Establishes National Elderly Care Professional Qualification System
China has officially established a national professional qualification system for elderly care service workers, creating a three-tier career ladder designed to standardize and elevate the quality of care for the country’s rapidly aging population. The Ministry of Civil Affairs and the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security jointly published the “Interim Provisions on the Elderly Care Service Professional Qualification System” on June 26, with approval from the State Council, according to CCTV News.
A Response to Demographic Pressure
The policy arrives as China confronts one of the most rapid aging transitions in human history. By the end of 2025, the country had 320 million citizens aged 60 and above, a figure projected to exceed 400 million by 2035. The silver economy is expected to reach 30 trillion yuan in scale by that time, while the working-age population continues to shrink.
As China News Service reported, the qualification system is part of the “national strategy of actively responding to population aging” and aims to strengthen the professional technical workforce for elderly care services.
Three Tiers of Certification
The Elderly Care Service Professional (养老服务师) qualification is officially included in the National Vocational Qualification Directory and establishes three levels: Junior (初级), Intermediate (中级), and Senior (高级). Junior and Intermediate levels require nationally standardized examinations with a unified syllabus, while Senior-level regulations are to be developed separately.
Examination standards are set at a fixed national passing threshold of 60% of the total possible score per subject. Successful candidates receive both paper and electronic certificates. The Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, in coordination with the Ministry of Civil Affairs, may set separate passing standards for specific regions — nationally valid certificates are issued for those meeting the national standard, while regionally restricted certificates apply to those meeting only the regional standard.
Eligibility and Career Pathways
Junior-level candidates need only a high school diploma or equivalent and engagement in elderly care work. Intermediate-level requirements are more demanding, ranging from eight years of experience with a Junior certificate to one year with a master’s degree or higher in an elderly-care-related field.
According to the CCTV News (cctv.cn) report framing the policy as a “new career advancement channel,” personnel who obtain the qualification certificate may be appointed by their employers to corresponding professional technical positions. The certificate operates under a registration service system managed by the Social Welfare Center of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, which will publicly announce registration status annually.
The ‘Designer vs. Craftsman’ Model
Industry experts have drawn a compelling analogy to describe the new professional hierarchy. Wang Liu, Nursing Training Director at Tianjin Xiao Cheng Group, told China Youth Daily in a February 2026 feature: “The Elderly Care Service Professional and the elderly care nursing worker are like the ‘designer’ and the ‘craftsman.’”
Wang explained that the Elderly Care Service Professional is “the designer of care plans, responsible for comprehensive assessment of the elderly person’s physical and mental condition, home environment, and social support, drawing up an integrated ‘blueprint’ including daily care, rehabilitation promotion, spiritual comfort, and risk prevention.”
Junior-level professionals are expected to participate in comprehensive assessments and provide services including disability care, rehabilitation services, health management, dementia prevention, psychological support, and end-of-life services. Intermediate-level professionals take on additional responsibilities such as developing care plans, managing service risks, training junior professionals, and providing information consultation and resource referral.
Addressing Long-Standing Industry Challenges
Yang Wujun, Operations Director at Beijing Fushoukangxin, noted in the same China Youth Daily feature that “for a long time, the elderly care service industry has faced difficulties such as aging practitioners, low compensation, and limited career development space.” He said the emergence of the Elderly Care Service Professional, combined with the existing “New Eight-Level Worker” system, “systematically constructs a professional promotion ‘overpass’ from junior nursing worker to chief technician or senior elderly care service professional.”
The new system builds on earlier policy developments. In July 2025, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security officially included “Elderly Care Service Professional” as a new national occupation. The “New Eight-Level Worker” system was implemented in the elderly care field in March 2025, creating an eight-level vocational skill hierarchy. Additionally, the “Elderly Care Service Skills Talent Special Training Implementation Plan” targets training 1.5 million skilled personnel within three years.
What to Watch For
With the Interim Provisions now published, attention turns to the development of Senior-level regulations and the system’s implementation across China’s vast and uneven elderly care landscape. Key questions include how the certification will translate into wage increases, how adoption rates will vary between urban and rural areas, and whether the professionalization push will attract younger, more educated workers into a field long plagued by high turnover and low status.
The policy represents a significant shift from volume-based to quality-based elderly care provision — a transformation that China’s 320 million elderly citizens will be watching closely.