The Shanxi provincial civil affairs meeting convened in Taiyuan on Jan 20 to review the achievements of 2025 and outline key tasks for 2026, the inaugural year of the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30), with the focus remaining on strengthening the social welfare system.

Elderly care reform continued to make progress in 2025 with the "Jinxiao Huanxin" initiative, which spurred 224 million yuan ($32.16 million) in elderly care consumption. The province completed 50 community elderly care projects and 100 standardized community canteens, with 440,000 senior volunteers actively engaged in frontline services. 

Shanxi provided targeted, dynamic support to 1.07 million low-income individuals, with the "Jinxin Rescue" mini-program facilitating online aid applications, resulting in 162,000 temporary assistance cases.

Shanxi plans to establish an inclusive and accessible elderly care system this year by enhancing the county-town-village service network, aiming to hire 1,000 college graduates for "concierge-style" services for the elderly and to continue exploring rural mutual aid models. 

The social assistance system will be refined to introduce "small-amount quick aid" for urgent matters, and the dynamic monitoring platform will be optimized for comprehensive support. Efforts will also be made to strengthen aid systems for children in difficult situations and care systems for severely disabled individuals.