In order to comprehensively promote home-based care for the aged, on June 29th, 2008, the Office of the National Committee on Aging, the Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Civil Affairs, the Ministry of Labor and Social Security, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Construction, the Ministry of Health, the Population and Family Planning Commission and State Taxation Administration of The People's Republic of China jointly issued the Opinions on Comprehensively Promoting Home-based Care for the Aged (hereinafter referred to as the Opinions). The Opinions further clarified the significance, tasks and safeguard measures of implementing home-based care services in China. According to the requirements of the Opinions, the primary objectives of home-based care services in China are: in cities, during the Eleventh Five-Year Plan period, all communities should strive to develop home-based care services, strive to achieve full coverage of home-based care services, continuously enrich service facilities, continuously enrich service contents and forms, continuously expand service teams, and gradually establish, improve and perfect organizational management systems and supervision mechanisms; In rural areas, relying on existing facilities and resources, we will strive to make about 80% of townships have a comprehensive welfare service center for the elderly, and about 1/3 village committees and natural villages have a cultural activity and service place for the elderly, and try our best to meet the basic service needs of the elderly on the basis of these facilities.

The "Opinions" put forward eight safeguard measures: making a development plan for home-based aged care services; Increase government investment and rationally allocate resources; Implement preferential policies to support home care services; Integrate resources, establish and improve the community home care service network; Strengthen the construction of home care service team combining specialization and volunteers; Actively cultivate and develop home care service organizations; Establish a management system for home care services; Effectively strengthen the leadership of home-based care services. On this basis, all localities should formulate feasible development plans and implementation steps, and actively and steadily promote them. If we can implement the policy principles required by the document and turn our specific goals into real local action goals, then we believe that family-based care for the elderly can have a quantitative expansion and a qualitative leap.