context: Fourteen government departments have jointly released the 2026–2028 Action Plan for Expanding and Upgrading the Rehabilitation Assistive Devices Industry, setting quantitative targets to strengthen domestic manufacturing, technological innovation and wider adoption of assistive technologies. The initiative supports the PRC’s broader strategy to develop the silver economy, improve long-term aged care and expand age-friendly consumption under the 15th 5-year plan.
The action plan identifies five priorities
- developing strategic industries: expand six to eight priority sectors, including brain-computer interfaces, rehabilitation and care robots, prosthetics, orthotics and hearing aids, while achieving breakthroughs in at least 50 key technologies and products.
- strengthening domestic innovation: establish national and provincial innovation platforms, develop at least 80 new products for ageing, rehabilitation and healthcare, and support the commercialisation of intelligent assistive technologies
- building competitive enterprises: increase the number of big rehabilitation device manufacturers to more than 500 while supporting specialised "little giant" firms, domestic brands and eligible companies seeking capital market financing
- improving industry standards: develop product certification, quality assessment and testing systems based on the national rehabilitation assistive devices catalogue to improve product quality and strengthen market regulation
- expanding affordability and adoption: explore including intelligent assistive devices and long-term care technologies within long-term care insurance while promoting wider use across elderly care, healthcare, disability services and community settings
The action plan seeks to address longstanding weaknesses in the PRC’s rehabilitation assistive device industry, including fragmented production, limited innovation and uneven product quality, by combining industrial policy agendas with healthcare and ageing reforms to support the growth of the silver economy.