New Guidelines Aim to Address Urgent Public Needs and Expand Social Services
BEIJING, June 9 – The General Office of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the State Council jointly issued a significant policy document titled “Opinions on Further Ensuring and Improving People’s Livelihoods to Address Urgent Public Needs” on Monday. The comprehensive guidelines introduce multiple measures to enhance social security, education, healthcare, and housing services nationwide.
Expanding Social Security Coverage
The document prioritizes extending social security protection to previously underserved groups, including flexible employment workers, migrant laborers, and workers in new business formats. Specifically, it covers self-employed individuals, part-time workers, delivery personnel, and ride-hailing drivers who often face unstable employment and insurance coverage gaps.
Strengthening Support for Low-Income Groups
The guidelines mandate timely assistance for citizens facing sudden difficulties, ensuring uninterrupted social insurance coverage and medical protection. Authorities will implement precise policies to pay insurance premiums for qualified low-income residents while expanding recognition of marginal low-income families and those facing rigid expenditure pressures.
Reforming Basic Public Service Delivery
Addressing the disparity between China’s 67% urban resident population and 50% urban household registration rate, the policy shifts basic public service provision from household registration areas to places of permanent residence. The reform will employ cross-regional coordination and improved transfer mechanisms to ensure equal access for all residents, including granting equal rights to qualified rural migrants and expanding housing provident fund access for flexible workers.
Education Quality Enhancement
The document launches a five-year basic education improvement plan, aiming to include more schools in quality school consortiums and achieve standardized construction across all compulsory education institutions. It proposes building or renovating over 1,000 high-quality high schools while increasing enrollment quotas from these institutions and expanding undergraduate admissions at top universities.
Healthcare System Upgrades
Three key healthcare initiatives will be implemented:
- Transferring urban medical resources to county-level hospitals and grassroots institutions
- Deploying personnel, services, and technologies from top hospitals to community health centers
- Encouraging high-level medical professionals to work at county hospitals
The policy also advances pharmaceutical reforms, including optimizing the national medical insurance drug list and creating a commercial health insurance innovative drug catalog.
Support for Elderly and Childcare Services
New targets establish that 80% of beds in newly built elderly care facilities must be nursing-oriented. Within a decade, major cities should provide embedded childcare services in over 80% of communities. Additional measures include increasing youth apartment supplies and promoting HPV vaccination for eligible girls.
The comprehensive policy package reflects China’s latest efforts to address pressing quality-of-life concerns while promoting equitable access to essential services across all population groups.
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