NanningMay 13, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Actively addressing population aging is regarded as a major strategic task related to national welfare and people’s livelihood during the “15th Five-Year Plan” period. As China’s aging process continues to advance, the construction of the elderly care service system is undergoing a transformation and upgrade from “basic security” to “high-quality development.” The “Nanning Model • Academic Exchange Conference on High-Quality Development of the Elderly Care Industry,” held on May 12 in Nanning, Guangxi, brought together government representatives, domestic and international industry experts, academic institutions, and industry partners to discuss core topics such as nursing talent cultivation, community-based embedded elderly care service innovation, and government-enterprise collaboration. At the conference, the Aihuning Industrial College and the University of Paris Dauphine “Integrated Care and Social Innovation Research Center” were officially inaugurated, marking a solid step forward in the integration of industry, education, and research in the elderly care sector.
Ms. Zhang Lei, Vice President of Communications for Bayer Greater China and Northeast Asia; Dr. Zhong Peng, Head of the Bayer Foundation Asia Pacific; Dr. Stephan Dyckerhoff, President of Buurtzorg Asia; Ms. Zhu Rongfen, Chairwoman of Guangxi New Life Medical and Health Services Co., Ltd.; Mr. Xu Jingbo, Vice President of the German Chamber of Commerce Abroad Greater China; and representatives from relevant departments of the autonomous region and Nanning city attended the event.
“Nanning Model” Empowers Care Concepts to Drive Industry Upgrades
According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, as of the end of 2025, China’s population aged 60 and above reached 323 million, accounting for 23% of the total national population. In 2021, actively addressing population aging was established as a national strategy; the “15th Five-Year Plan” continues to intensify efforts, focusing on optimizing basic elderly care services, developing community-based embedded elderly care, deepening the integration of medical and nursing care, and promoting the quality improvement and upgrade of elderly care services. Against this backdrop, how to translate national top-level design into implementable and sustainable grassroots practices has become a core issue facing the industry.
The “Nanning Model” project, supported by the Bayer Foundation, was launched in May 2025 and is implemented by Xinbo Company, a joint venture between Buurtzorg (China) and Guangxi New Life Medical and Health Services Co., Ltd. The project focuses on elderly individuals with disabilities, chronic diseases, and dementia, leveraging the dual-brand advantages of “Aihuning” and “Buurtzorg” to implement the scientific model of Buurtzorg’s home-based elderly care from the Netherlands, promoting high-quality, efficient, and sustainable development of home-based elderly care services.
Distinct from traditional “passive care,” the “Nanning Model” upholds the empowering care concept of “reinvigorating vitality and independent living,” shifting the service focus from “substitutive care” to “capacity maintenance and restoration.” The project relies on a cross-professional team and the Buurtzorg Omaha System assessment tool to develop personalized care plans for each elderly individual, ensuring the continuous implementation of care plans through a family coordination mechanism. By the end of the project cycle, a total of 290 assessments were completed across three phases, 246 individuals were selected for enrollment, 204 cases were effectively advanced, and the average health score improvement rate reached 60.03%. The average monthly service cost was reduced by 70% compared to institutional care and by 20% compared to long-term care insurance, strongly validating the feasibility of a “low-cost, high-quality” home-based care pathway.
Multi-Party Collaborative Innovation to Build a Talent and Industry Ecosystem
Talent cultivation runs throughout the entire project. The Nanning team established a daily, weekly, and monthly review mechanism, combining the application of the Omaha assessment tool, case studies, and frontline practice through a “mentor-mentee” model, initially building a localized integrated care team. Concurrently with the conference, a roundtable discussion on “Challenges and Opportunities in Building Nursing Personnel Capacity” was held. Government representatives, academic institutions, and industry experts unanimously agreed that the deep integration of the education chain, talent chain, and service chain is key to enhancing the professional capacity of community-based home care. The inauguration of the Industrial College and the Care and Social Innovation Research Center further empowers the industry.
Dr. Zhong Peng, Head of the Bayer Foundation Asia Pacific, further elaborated on the social innovation logic behind the project: “The ‘Nanning Model’ did not simply replicate the international experience of Buurtzorg in the Netherlands but fully integrated it with China’s family structures, community organization methods, and local policy environment for innovative adaptation. We are delighted to see that while serving the elderly, the project also enhances women’s career development opportunities in the care sector through systematic training, empowering them with more employment opportunities and increasing their income, creating dual social value by serving the elderly and empowering the community simultaneously.”
Dr. Stephan Dyckerhoff, President of Buurtzorg Asia, stated: “Buurtzorg has always believed that the key to high-quality home care is not simply doing things for the elderly but helping them maintain and restore their ability to live independently through professional assessments, personalized plans, and family empowerment. In the ‘Nanning Model,’ we work closely with the Bayer Foundation and the New Life team to combine Dutch community home care experience with local Nanning practices, promoting the implementation of the Omaha system assessment, cross-professional team collaboration, and continuous review mechanisms, cultivating a localized professional care team, and jointly exploring a replicable and sustainable new path for community-based home care.”
Ms. Zhu Rongfen, Chairwoman of Guangxi New Life Medical and Health Services Co., Ltd., said: “As a local enterprise deeply rooted in the medical and health field, the New Life Aihuning brand has always adhered to the original aspiration and mission of ‘providing better care at lower costs.’ The creation of the ‘Nanning Model’ in collaboration with the Bayer Foundation and Buurtzorg Netherlands is an important practice of the ‘Aihuning+’ strategy and a key breakthrough in building our ‘Happy Care, Medical Care, Smart Care, and Safe Care’ four-pillar system. We are not only committed to providing dignified, high-quality home care for the elderly but also hope to use the Aihuning Industrial College and New Life Research Institute as platforms to deepen the integration of industry, education, and research, collaborate with the government, academic institutions, and industry partners, and promote the cultivation of elderly care talent, the upgrade of service standards, and the construction of an industry ecosystem, contributing the strength of a local enterprise to China’s active response to population aging.”
Corporate Social Responsibility and Model Innovation Support National Strategy
In exploring pathways, the “Nanning Model” does not stop at service provision itself. Ms. Zhang Lei, Vice President of Communications for Bayer Greater China and Northeast Asia, pointed out that Bayer is aligning its corporate mission more closely with the deep-seated needs of China’s aging society. She stated: “China’s demographic structure is undergoing profound changes, and the high-quality development of the elderly care service system is not only a social issue but also a systematic project requiring multi-party collaboration. Bayer’s mission of ‘Health for All, Hunger for None’ is reflected not only in product and technological innovation but is also extending to model and social innovation. The ‘Nanning Model’ is an important practice by Bayer China and the Bayer Foundation to respond to the national elderly care strategy through a social innovation pathway. We hope to use the Elderly Care Research Institute and Industrial College as platforms to consolidate efforts in talent cultivation, standard building, and payment system development, helping to build a more resilient elderly care service ecosystem.”
Currently, China’s elderly care services are accelerating their transformation from “availability” to “quality,” with community-based embedded services, nursing capacity building, and multi-party collaboration becoming core issues for high-quality development. The “Nanning Model” presents phased experience in service organization, family connection, and talent cultivation through frontline practice. In the future, Bayer China and the Foundation will continue to support the deepening exploration of the Nanning pilot, working with the government, academia, and industry partners to promote continuous innovation in care and community elderly care services, contributing verifiable and discussable grassroots practices to the national strategy of actively addressing population aging.