The Zhitong Finance App learned that on July 13, 14 departments including the Ministry of Civil Affairs jointly announced the “Three-Year Action Plan to Expand Capacity and Improve the Quality of the Rehabilitation Aids Industry (2026-2028)”. The current “Plan” is based on the dual goals of people's livelihood needs and industrial upgrading, and clearly proposes that by 2028, a new pattern of industrial development will gradually be formed with main growth, carrier support, brand promotion, active market, and innovation-led. The “Plan” proposes six major actions of “leading application demonstration, industrial optimization and upgrading, improving innovation capacity, improving policy effectiveness, optimizing the market environment, and empowering the talent team”. On the application side, promote multi-scenario integration of “rehabilitation aids +”, build a “center+site” urban and rural service network, promote shared leasing, etc.; on the industrial side, focus on cultivating leading enterprises and specialized new enterprises in agglomeration areas such as Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, Yangtze River Delta, Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao to promote intelligent manufacturing and green factory construction; on the innovation side, it is guided by the integration of medical engineering to target cutting-edge technologies such as brain-computer interfaces, health robots, and bionic prosthetics to open up a national scientific research and innovation platform.
The full text is as follows:
Three-year action plan to expand capacity and improve quality in the rehabilitation aid industry (2026-2028)
This plan is formulated to thoroughly implement the decisions and arrangements of the Party Central Committee and the State Council, develop and expand the rehabilitation aid (rehabilitation aid for short) industry, achieve an overall leap forward in the industrial system, and enhance people's livelihood and welfare.
I. General Requirements
(1) Guiding ideology
Adhere to Xi Jinping's ideology of socialism with Chinese characteristics in the new era, thoroughly implement the spirit of the 20th National Congress and 20th Plenary Session of the Party, fully, accurately and comprehensively implement the new development concept, adhere to innovation-driven, scenario-driven, and inclusive integration, use technology to create new quality productivity and promote the upgrading of the rehabilitation aid industry; expand the industrial ecosystem, accelerate intelligent, green and integrated development, and strongly support the positive response to the national strategy of population aging, healthy China strategy, and manufacturing power strategy to better meet the many levels, diversified and high-quality service needs of the masses.
(2) Development goals
By 2028, a new pattern of development of the rehabilitation aid industry will be formed with main growth, carrier support, brand promotion, active market, and innovation-led. Build a number of model application scenarios into institutions, communities, and families, shape a number of leading enterprises, well-known brands and leading products in the segment with high market awareness, strong competitiveness, and deep integration of advanced manufacturing technology, cultivate a number of replicable, marketable and sustainable operation and service models, and build a number of national and provincial key laboratories, innovation centers, and industrial technology engineering centers supported by high-level talents and high-level innovation teams, and improve a unified standard and regulatory guarantee system.
——The scale of applications continues to expand. Accelerate large-scale implementation of rehabilitation aid products and services in key areas such as old-age care and disability assistance, promote the application of intelligent products, build comprehensive rehabilitation aid service centers based on existing facilities, and identify a number of demonstration promotion application scenarios or bases.
——The industrial layout continues to be optimized. Strengthen and improve 6-8 key sub-industries, such as brain-computer interfaces, rehabilitation robots, prosthetics and hearing aids, etc., break through 50 key industrial technologies (products), build a number of national and provincial key laboratories, innovation centers, and industrial technology engineering centers based on existing platforms, and develop no less than 80 key products in the fields of health, aging, and old-age care.
——Effective supply capacity has been greatly improved. Rehabilitation aid enterprises above the national scale strive to break through 500, and cultivate a number of specialized, innovative “little giant” enterprises and individual champions in the manufacturing industry. Support the listing and financing of eligible companies.
——The support system is more complete. Improve the standard system and issue no less than 60 standards. Cultivate a number of inspection, testing and certification bodies for rehabilitation aid products.
II. Key tasks
(1) Application demonstration leads action
Broaden application scenarios. Accelerate the cultivation and opening up of application scenarios, expand the “Rehabilitation Aids +” application scenarios, promote its wide application in the fields of old-age care, disability assistance, medical care, education, communications, transportation, culture, sports and entertainment, etc., accelerate the construction of a cross-scenario integrated service network system, and promote pilot and application demonstrations for rehabilitation aids. Encourage the promotion of intelligent rehabilitation aids with strong applicability, high universality and wide coverage, and carry out large-scale and integrated applications in old-age service institutions, service institutions for the disabled, etc., and strengthen the configuration and promotion application in communities and families. All regions are encouraged to combine international and regional science and technology innovation centers and the construction of innovative national cities to carry out integrated demonstrations of the transfer, transformation and application of scientific and technological achievements.
Improve the service network. Encourage integration with reality, give full play to the role of the market mechanism, create integrated rehabilitation aid integrated service centers integrating popular science display, evaluation and configuration, rental and sales, etc., set up a wide range of configuration service sites, promote the “center+site” model, and build a service network with diverse actors, covering urban and rural areas, and convenient and accessible. Guide home complexes, e-commerce platforms, shopping malls, supermarkets, community embedded service facilities, etc. to set up consumer zones for rehabilitation aids, and vigorously develop customized services, shared leasing, and “online+offline” integrated services to better meet the individual needs of the elderly and disabled.
Cultivate well-known brands. Support high-quality brands, benchmark products and special services for rehabilitation aids with market influence, innovation ability and a good reputation, and include them in the consumer goods industry's “three products” strategy, a national tour of famous Chinese consumer products, a product promotion catalogue for the elderly, the smart health and pension products and services promotion catalogue, etc., to accelerate the cultivation of well-known domestic brands and encourage industry organizations to carry out industrial innovation and discovery activities. Use high-end medical equipment to promote application projects to support the innovation and development of the rehabilitation aid industry.
Strengthen display and promotion. Organize and carry out rehabilitation aid industry exchange activities, and continue to organize events such as the China Rehabilitation Aids Industry Innovation and Development Conference, the China International Rehabilitation Aids Industry and International Welfare Machine Expo, the China International Welfare Expo and the China International Rehabilitation Expo in accordance with the market-based model to further expand the influence of the industry and promote supply and demand docking and industry cooperation.
(2) Industrial optimization and upgrading actions
Accelerate agglomeration development. Support the formation of industrial clusters in regions with distinct industrial characteristics, good basic conditions, and outstanding application demonstration effects, and focus on building industrial agglomeration areas such as Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, the Yangtze River Delta, the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, Cheng-Chongqing, and the central region. Strengthen government guidance and optimize the allocation of resource elements such as policies, talents, and technology around “building, repairing, extending, and strengthening the chain”. Encourage strong alliances, cross-regional mergers and restructuring of high-quality enterprises, carry out overseas mergers and acquisitions, equity investment and venture capital, strengthen international cooperation in technology, production capacity, trade, etc., actively promote “Belt and Road” international cooperation, and encourage social forces and social capital to increase investment and industrialization.
Cultivate leading companies. Support the upper, middle and lower reaches of the rehabilitation aid industry to cultivate a number of high-quality enterprises, give full play to the role of small and medium-sized enterprise development funds and manufacturing transformation and upgrading funds, and support enterprises to grow bigger and stronger. Focus on segmented fields and cultivate specialized, innovative small and medium-sized enterprises and individual champions in the manufacturing industry, as well as a number of high-quality enterprises with outstanding main business, strong competitiveness, strong growth, and strong professionalism. Promote brand value evaluation and specialized services, guide chain enterprises to integrate through the industrial chain, supply chain and value chain, and promote the collaborative development of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises and large enterprises. Cultivate leading enterprises with global allocation of factor resources, market networks, and multinational management capabilities, promote enterprises in a position to do so to establish overseas R&D centers, production bases, sales networks and service systems, and actively expand the international and domestic market share of high-end products.
Improve manufacturing energy levels. Support local authorities to independently implement smart home (including age-appropriate household products) subsidy policies within the framework of the consumer goods trade-in policy. Implement intelligent manufacturing projects, promote rehabilitation aid enterprises to build digital workshops and smart factories, and strengthen the application of key technologies such as industrial Internet and additive manufacturing throughout the R&D and production process. Cultivate green factories for rehabilitation aids, and carry out innovative and integrated applications of green manufacturing technology. Accelerate the development of service-oriented manufacturing and encourage enterprises to provide services such as personalized customization. Encourage and promote the construction of specialized public service platforms for industrial clusters and small and medium-sized enterprises, support and guide leading enterprises in the supply chain and industrial chain, build a full-chain service ecosystem, and improve intelligent technology trading platforms.
(3) Actions to enhance innovation capacity
Coordinate innovation resources. All regions combine actual research with universities, research institutes, and leading enterprises to cultivate and build a number of national and provincial science and technology innovation platform bases to strengthen basic research, applied research, and experimental development. Carry out industrial entrepreneurship incubation work, and encourage leading enterprises to join up with upstream and downstream enterprises to establish rehabilitation aid incubators and industrial technical cooperation platforms. Relying on existing platforms and resources, we will promote the construction of international advanced R&D centers and headquarters bases, attract and support multinational companies and scientific research institutions to establish physical R&D and production institutions in China, and accelerate the extension of industrial cooperation from processing and manufacturing to high value-added links such as R&D, design, and brand cultivation.
Break through core technology. Strengthen the layout of the rehabilitation aid science and technology research and development system in the national science and technology plan, and promote national science and technology innovation platform bases such as national key laboratories to carry out scientific research in the field of rehabilitation aids. Encourage and support key enterprises to step up research on key core technologies, break through key common technologies such as neural interaction and intent decoding, intelligent sensing and precise control, flexible drive and biomaterials, human-computer collaboration and bionic control, strengthen the “medical integration” orientation, promote the deep integration of artificial intelligence, brain-computer interface, flexible electronics and other technologies with clinical needs, and enhance the supply capacity of rehabilitation aid materials and component technology.
Develop key products. Classify and accurately ascertain the needs of different groups with functional disabilities for rehabilitation aids, promote demand-oriented, and accelerate the development of more practical, easy-to-use products that are popular in the market. Focusing on the fields of physical function assistance, neurological rehabilitation, disability compensation, rehabilitation evaluation and training, the focus is on guiding and supporting cutting-edge technologies, key common technologies and new product development such as exoskeleton robots, care and rehabilitation robots, intelligent bionic prosthetics, smart wearable devices, virtual reality rehabilitation training equipment, rehabilitation aids for mental disorders, and digital assessment and adaptation systems. Encourage the development of electronic products and terminals that meet the cognitive level and rehabilitation rules of children with disabilities. The focus is on supporting localized research and development of key components, high-precision sensors, and high-performance materials. Support the inclusion of self-developed products in the “China Rehabilitation Aids Catalogue”, famous Chinese consumer products, etc.
Accelerate the transformation of results. Clear channels for the transformation of scientific and technological achievements in rehabilitation aids, improve the working mechanism for the transformation and industrialization of scientific and technological achievements, form an innovative achievement bank, rely on superior units to carry out entrepreneurship incubation and double innovation demonstrations, encourage industry organizations to promote innovative product catalogues, scientific and technological achievements and transformation project information, and accelerate the introduction of advanced scientific and technological achievements from abroad. Improve market-oriented results transformation mechanisms, and build proof-of-concept platforms, pilot platforms and incubators based on existing platforms to open up transformation paths from laboratory samples to production line products to market products.
(4) Actions to improve policy effectiveness
Optimizing financial services. Strengthen the functions of a unified registration and publicity system for movable property financing, a financing credit service platform, and a national financial flow credit information sharing platform for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, etc., and enhance the convenience of financing for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises in the rehabilitation aid industry chain. Encourage securities companies to develop suitable financial products on the premise that risk is manageable and commercial sustainability, and support eligible enterprises to issue corporate bonds, non-financial corporate debt financing instruments, etc. Guide and encourage commercial insurance companies to include rehabilitation aids in the scope of commercial health insurance coverage. Support places that are in a position to do a good job in purchasing and leasing rehabilitation aids through insurance coverage services. Establish a support mechanism for key enterprises, and study the inclusion of eligible high-end rehabilitation aids in the first (set) guidance catalogue for the promotion and application of major technical equipment. Give full play to the role of a government financing guarantee system to encourage greater support for small and medium-sized enterprises in the rehabilitation aid industry that meet the requirements of the Science and Technology Innovation Special Guarantee Program.
Improve support policies. In conjunction with the in-depth implementation of special actions to boost consumption and green consumption promotion activities, rehabilitation aid products are used as an important part of promoting age-appropriate transformation, silver hair consumption, and consumption of green, intelligent, and age-appropriate products, further unleashing consumption potential and achieving healthy interaction between industrial development and public service upgrading. Focus on key products with high market demand, and increase support for scientific research and development, product manufacturing, and configuration services. Implement preferential tax policies such as exemption from corporate income tax for enterprises producing and assembling special supplies for the disabled in accordance with regulations. Local authorities are encouraged to develop community rental services for rehabilitation aids in line with actual practice. Encourage charitable forces to provide financial support for the rental and installation of rehabilitation aids for people with disabilities in need. Promote the inclusion of rehabilitation aids in relevant projects, and promote the construction of a number of high-end rehabilitation aids industrialization projects.
Strengthen payment guarantees. Accelerate the construction of barrier-free environments, and coordinate the implementation of barrier-free rehabilitation for families with disabilities and aging adaptation for the elderly. Standardize and strengthen the basic assistive device adaptation service subsidy system for people with disabilities, support the inclusion of eligible therapeutic rehabilitation aids in the scope of basic medical insurance payments in accordance with procedures, and adjust and improve the industrial injury insurance assistive device configuration catalogue in due course according to the level of economic and social development, the daily life and employment needs of workers injured at work, etc. At the national level, according to changes in the population situation and system development, research and explore the inclusion of intelligent services and supportive assistive devices related to long-term care insurance in the scope of long-term care insurance payments. Promote coordination of payment guarantee policies, gradually establish certification mechanisms for product testing, quality grading, and systematic evaluation based on the “China Rehabilitation Aids Catalogue”, and establish industry standards with uniform standards, clear targets, and standardized services.
(5) Actions to optimize the market environment
Improve the standard system. Optimize the standard system structure of rehabilitation aids, and focus on promoting the revision and promotion of standards for rehabilitation, nursing care, rehabilitation institution facilities and equipment, rehabilitation training equipment, etc. Accelerate the revision of mandatory standards such as electric wheelchairs and recommended standards such as wearable exoskeletons. Actively participate in the formulation of international standards, strengthen tracking, comparison and evaluation, transform and adopt advanced and applicable international standards in a timely manner, and promote China's superior technical standards into international standards. Promote classification and classification certification of rehabilitation aids products, establish a certification system in line with the international community, and cultivate and develop a number of professional inspection, testing and certification institutions.
Strengthen quality management. Support the inclusion of key rehabilitation aids products in the national key industrial product quality and safety supervision catalogue and national supervision and spot check plans. Strengthen product quality supervision and spot checks, risk warning, defective product recalls, product damage monitoring, verification and evaluation, and forensic examinations, etc., and strictly crack down on acts that harm the interests of the public, such as counterfeiting and false publicity. Strengthen in-fact and ex post supervision of prosthetic and orthotic (assistive devices) manufacturing and assembly enterprises. Conduct spot checks on products sold online and announce the status of spot checks to the public, and support industry associations, e-commerce platforms, etc. to explore and carry out coding and verification of rehabilitation aid products.
Strengthen industry supervision. Implement full-chain supervision covering product production, sales and distribution services, innovate supervision methods and methods, study and formulate industry management measures and self-regulatory rules that are practical, simple and easy to implement, and conform to industry characteristics, and standardize the price order of rehabilitation aids distribution services. Strengthen the construction of rehabilitation aid products and information service systems, and set up special zones for community leasing, product catalogs, and standard publishing to promote cross-departmental data sharing. Give full play to the role of the national credit information sharing platform, the “Credit China” website and the national enterprise credit information publicity system, and establish mechanisms for enterprise credit information disclosure, dynamic evaluation, trustworthiness incentives, and punishment for loss of trust.
Improve the statistical system. Establish a dual point system for the development of the rehabilitation aids industry, establish an industry statistical index system, and improve the information collection mechanism combining statistical surveys, administrative records and industry statistics. Support research institutes and industry associations to publish statistical monitoring and analysis of industry operation according to law and regulations, integrate demand, services, expert databases and new technology and new product information, do a good job in statistical analysis and research, compilation and printing of statistical data, and promote the integrated application of industry data and public data.
(6) Talent team empowerment actions
Play the leading role of think tanks. Set up a national rehabilitation aid industry expert advisory committee to organize experts to promote relevant achievements and technologies as appropriate. Support eligible enterprises and institutions in the field of rehabilitation aids to apply for the establishment of postdoctoral research workstations, and support enterprises and colleges to cooperate to establish practical talent training bases based on existing resources. Implement policies such as part-time innovation and retention of researchers and leaving their jobs to set up enterprises.
Strengthen talent team development. Support the inclusion of professionals related to rehabilitation aids in the scope of large-scale vocational skills upgrading training. Encourage and support universities, scientific research institutions and enterprises to jointly develop talents through the joint construction of curriculum systems and practice platforms to strengthen policy research, product development, and transformation of results. Support ordinary colleges and vocational schools to establish majors related to rehabilitation engineering and rehabilitation aid technology, deepen the integration of obstetrics and education, and cultivate practical and skilled talents. Relying on vocational skill rating evaluation agencies that have selected and filed records, skill rating certification for rehabilitation aid workers is carried out in accordance with standards and regulations. Encourage the inclusion of knowledge related to rehabilitation aids in the scope of training for orphaned and disabled child caregivers, nursing service providers, rehabilitation assistive technology consultants, community workers, village doctors, etc. Use existing resources to build a practical talent training base, carry out relevant training or continuing education, and encourage enterprises to provide jobs for teacher practice and student internships.
Improve the career evaluation system. Promote the revision of relevant laws and regulations in due course, and study the establishment of a full-life cycle career management system in the field of rehabilitation aids. Improve the job review policy for rehabilitation aid engineers and technicians based on the existing work base and actual needs, explore the direction of adding prosthetists, orthopedists, audiologists, etc., and support eligible rehabilitation aid practitioners to participate in the title review. Establish team collaboration mechanisms for rehabilitation physicians, rehabilitation therapists, and rehabilitation aid allocators to enhance the connection and integration of professional services.
III. Organizational Guarantee
(1) Strengthen organizational leadership. Give full play to the role of the inter-ministerial joint conference system to accelerate the development of the rehabilitation aid industry. Member units include the promotion of the development of the rehabilitation aids industry in the important agenda of their departments and systems, and strengthen cross-departmental coordination and resource integration. Member units of the Joint Conference on Accelerating the Development of the Rehabilitation Aids Industry in all regions should carry out their duties, consolidate responsibilities and cohesion, and work together to design policies, guide and supervise the industry, and ensure cross-departmental policy coordination and implementation of goals and tasks.
(2) Strengthen research guidance. The Ministry of Civil Affairs leads regular special research to understand the implementation situation in various regions, carries out timely analysis and evaluation of the operation of the rehabilitation aids industry, and promotes key tasks, policy implementation, and project implementation. Guide all regions to establish a normalized work system, detect problems in a timely manner, promote rectification, coordinate and guide, and ensure implementation of this plan.
(3) Create a good environment. In conjunction with National Disability Day, National Science and Technology Activity Week, and National Science Month, etc., we rely on newspapers, radio, television and other news media and online new media to widely publicize rehabilitation aids industry development policies, popular science knowledge, innovative products, and the cultivation of leading enterprises, leading talents, and innovative teams to raise social awareness and acceptance.
This article was selected from the “Ministry of Civil Affairs Official Website”; Zhitong Finance Editor: Huang Xiaodong.