The construction of the elderly care service system has received significant policy support. On January 7th, the "Opinions of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council on Deepening the Reform and Development of Elderly Care Services" (hereinafter referred to as the "Opinions") proposed that by 2029, the elderly care service network should be basically completed, service capacity and level should be significantly enhanced, significant progress should be made in expanding, improving quality and efficiency, and the supply of basic elderly care services should be continuously optimized; By 2035, the elderly care service network will be more sound, service supply and demand will be more coordinated and adapted, and all elderly people will enjoy basic elderly care services. A mature and standardized elderly care service system suitable for China's national conditions will be established. At the same time, the 'Opinions' require strengthening effective and robust guarantees for elderly care service elements. This includes vigorously developing pension finance. Pension finance plays a significant role in supporting the construction of pension service networks Song Xiangqing, Vice President of the China Society of Business Economics, told Securities Daily reporters that by developing elderly care finance, not only can the funding sources of the elderly care service industry be expanded and resource allocation optimized, but also the financing costs of relevant entities can be reduced, thereby promoting high-quality and sustainable development of elderly care services. In recent years, with strong policy support, significant progress has been made in the construction of elderly care service networks. According to data from the Ministry of Civil Affairs, as of the end of October 2024, there were 404000 various types of elderly care institutions and facilities. Currently, there are still pain points in the construction and operation of elderly care service infrastructure and institutions where financing needs are difficult to effectively meet. Tian Lihui, Dean of the Institute of Financial Development at Nankai University, stated that the construction of elderly care service infrastructure requires a large amount of initial investment, and elderly care service institutions also need continuous financial support in their daily operations, such as personnel salaries, daily maintenance, medical and living material supply, etc. Currently, many elderly care service institutions are facing a shortage of funds, making it difficult to bear the high construction and operational costs. Especially, due to the particularity of the elderly care service industry, its profitability and stability are relatively low, and financial institutions are cautious about its financing needs. Elderly care service institutions find it difficult to obtain sufficient financial support through traditional financing channels. The Opinion proposes to vigorously develop pension finance. Through funding channels such as local government special bonds, support the construction of eligible elderly care service infrastructure and actively meet the credit financing needs of elderly care service institutions. Intensify government financing guarantees and re guarantee institutions' support for loan guarantees for small and micro enterprises providing elderly care services. Support eligible elderly care projects to issue real estate investment trust funds in the infrastructure sector. Small and micro enterprises providing elderly care services usually have small asset sizes and limited assets that can be used as collateral, making it difficult to obtain sufficient credit support from financial institutions Song Xiangqing stated that by increasing government financing guarantees and re guarantee institutions' support for loan guarantees for small and micro enterprises providing elderly care services, their financing costs can be effectively reduced. It is worth noting that the "Opinions on Optimizing and Improving the Management Mechanism of Local Government Special Bonds" issued by the General Office of the State Council in December 2024 proposed to "expand the scope of special bonds used as project capital". Among them, "elderly care and childcare" is listed. In addition, the Ministry of Civil Affairs and 24 other departments jointly issued the "Several Measures to Further Promote the Consumption of Elderly Care Services and Improve the Quality of Life of the Elderly", which clearly supports the inclusion of elderly care facilities in the issuance scope of real estate investment trusts (REITs) in the infrastructure sector. Lou Feipeng, a researcher at China Postal Savings Bank, believes that meeting the financing needs related to elderly care services through local government special bonds and other funding channels, and supporting eligible elderly care projects to issue real estate investment trust funds in the infrastructure sector, can help enrich the funding supply methods in the elderly care service field and allow funds to flow better into the field. When it comes to the direction of future development of elderly care finance to support the construction of elderly care service networks, Song Xiangqing believes that at the policy level, financial institutions can be guided to optimize credit policies, formulate differentiated credit policies based on the characteristics of elderly care service institutions, appropriately relax loan conditions, extend loan terms, increase loan amounts, and meet the funding needs of elderly care service institution construction and operation. In addition, for infrastructure real estate investment trust funds issued by eligible elderly care projects, the approval process can be simplified, issuance efficiency can be improved, asset securitization of elderly care projects can be promoted, existing assets can be activated, and more funds can be raised for the construction of elderly care service networks. Through the market-oriented operation of pension finance, more social capital can be guided to invest in the pension service industry, promote the optimization of resource allocation, and improve the quality and efficiency of pension service supply Tian Lihui said. (New Society)