The National Development and Reform Commission and two other ministries issued
guidance to improve price formation and support expansion and quality upgrades
of inclusive elderly-care services. The guidance requires a fee monitoring and
regular evaluation system. Local development and reform departments, together
with industry regulators, must enhance elderly-care price monitoring to track
market price dynamics, key cost trends (labor, rent) and household
affordability. A dynamic fee-policy evaluation mechanism will require periodic
assessments—via self-evaluation or third-party review—of charge management
methods, fee items and fee standards (or reference ranges). Evaluation cycles
should in principle be no longer than three years. Provincial development and
reform and industry departments must promptly report fee-policy evaluation
outcomes and adjustments to the NDRC and relevant central industry departments.