Red Star News:

We found that pension frauds are seriously threatening the happiness of the elderly in their later years, so a special campaign was launched to crack down on pension frauds across the country. Could you brief us on the progress of the MCA in rectifying frauds in the field of elderly care services, and in what areas will it continue to make efforts in the next step? Thanks.

Zhan Chengfu:

Thank you for your question. This question is indeed very important, and this work is a key task that our ministry has been focusing on in recent years and has made numerous achievements. Li Banghua, deputy director of endowment services, is an expert in this field. He's here now, so please let him make some professional elaborations.

Li Banghua:

In recent years, some criminals have carried out fraud under the guise of "elderly care," causing economic losses and mental pains to the elderly, and the people's complaints were very strong. The CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core pays special attention to the elderly, emphasizing the need to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of the elderly and resolutely punish the behaviors of defrauding the elderly in accordance with laws and regulations. In April this year, with the approval of the CPC Central Committee and led by the Peaceful China initiative coordination team, 12 departments jointly launched a nationwide special campaign to crack down on pension fraud, and the MCA is one of them. The MCA is mainly responsible for rectifying fraud-related problems and hidden dangers in the field of elderly care services. At present, the special campaign has been implemented for nearly half a year, and good progress has been made.

First, a comprehensive publicity campaign was launched. In accordance with the general requirements to make efforts in the three fields of publicity and education, crackdowns in accordance with the law, and rectification and regulation, we have launched a complaint and reporting platform, issued a batch of policy guidance books, published a batch of typical cases, and carried out a series of special news reports. Targeting the methods and characteristics of fraud in the field of elderly care services, we have extensively carried out policy publicity and common-sense education on deception and fraud prevention. We conducted publicity and mobilization work, from household to household, from community to community, and placed publicity materials on walls, in the media, and on the internet. It should be said that we have sounded the clarion call to combat fraud in elderly care services. Many local civil affairs departments and elderly care service institutions have also widely mobilized elderly people to participate in fraud prevention publicity, which has enhanced the ability of the elderly to recognize and prevent fraud.

Second, we carried out comprehensive research and investigations. As of the end of August, civil affairs departments at all levels across the country have carried out at least two rounds of surveys. A total of 270,000 elderly care service institutions and venues have been investigated, and 950 institutions and venues with hidden dangers have been identified. Why do we use the word “venue” here? Because there are 576 illegal institutions that are not registered but are engaged in the operation of elderly care services or carry out activities in the name of elderly care services.

Third, we have carried out comprehensive rectification. According to the levels of hidden dangers, civil affairs departments at all levels have established a "red, orange, and yellow" risk and hidden danger management and control list, clarified the timetable and roadmap, and carried out concentrated rectifications in accordance with the requirements of "one case, one policy." At present, of the 950 institutions and venues with hidden risks, a total of 510 have been banned and shut down, 81 have seen cases filed, 48 have been adjudicated, and 91 have been handed over to relevant departments for disposal. The rest are also under screening and investigation. It should be said that the existing hidden risks of fraud in the field of elderly care services are being resolved in an orderly manner.

Going forward, the MCA will further promote this work in accordance with the deployments of the office of special national campaign against pension fraud. On the one hand, we will speed up the clearance of existing risks, and on the other hand, we will strengthen the establishment of rules and regulations to effectively curb incremental risks. In establishing a long-term mechanism, there are also two aspects of the work: first, we will establish a normalized supervision mechanism, strengthen early warning monitoring and coordinated disposal; second, we will focus on prominent risks and hidden dangers, and work with relevant departments to study and standardize the relevant measures of prepayment for elderly care institutions, protect people's pension money, and make elderly care services safer and more secure. Thank you.