Ministry of Commerce: Support domestic service with clear pricing according to grade

The Zhitong Finance App learned that on July 21, the Ministry of Commerce held a special press conference on promoting the high-quality development of the domestic service industry. Kong Dejun, director of the Department of Services and Trade of the Ministry of Commerce, said that in terms of consolidating the foundation of industry development, the “Domestic Service Contract” model text will be revised and published to enhance the operability of the model text; revise national standards such as “Classification and Evaluation of Domestic Service Agencies” to promote the application of the “Women's Domestic Service Agency Evaluation” group standards to encourage evaluation work based on the standards; support domestic service personnel service quality evaluations to promote service standardization, meet diversified needs, and protect the legitimate rights and interests of consumers.

The transcript is as follows:

[He Yadong]: Good afternoon, all journalists and friends. Welcome to today's special press conference.

Recently, the Ministry of Commerce, together with various departments, issued “Certain Policies and Measures to Promote the High-Quality Development of the Domestic Service Industry”. To help everyone better understand the relevant situation, today we are very happy to invite Mr. Kong Dejun, Director of the Department of Services and Trade of the Ministry of Commerce; Mr. Xu Xin, Deputy Director of the Social Development Department of the National Development and Reform Commission; Ms. Lin Shuli, Deputy Director of the Migrant Worker Work Department of the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security; and Ms. Wen Siyao, Deputy Director of the Department of Medical Services Management of the National Health Insurance Administration.

Next, let's first ask Director Kong Dejun for an introduction.

[Kong Dejun]: Thank you, host. Good afternoon to all journalists and friends. Thank you for attending today's special press conference. Next, I will introduce you to the relevant situation of “Certain Policies and Measures to Promote the High-Quality Development of the Domestic Service Industry” (hereinafter referred to as “Policy Measures”).

The domestic service industry is an important livelihood industry. It plays an important role in improving people's livelihood, stabilizing and expanding employment, promoting integrated development between urban and rural areas, and driving consumption expansion. The Party Central Committee and the State Council attach great importance to the development of the domestic service industry. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that domestic service is a Chaoyang industry, and it is also a caring project; it is necessary to carry out this mutually beneficial and win-win work. In April 2026, the State Council issued “Opinions on Promoting the Expansion and Quality Improvement of the Service Industry”, which calls for increasing the supply of high-quality services for residents such as community housekeeping and carrying out system and model innovation in the domestic service industry. In January of this year, the General Office of the State Council issued the “Work Plan to Accelerate Cultivating New Growth Points for Service Consumption”, making special arrangements for domestic service services as an important new growth point area for service consumption. In order to promote standardization, professionalization, and industrialization of the domestic service industry and give better play to the important role of the domestic service industry in promoting consumption, benefiting people's livelihood, and stabilizing employment, the Ministry of Commerce, the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, and the National Health Insurance Administration have jointly issued “Policies and Measures”, which focus on increasing support for domestic service enterprises, encouraging local institutions to carry out innovative institutional practices, strengthen vocational skills training, establish and improve the credit information platform system, and consolidate the foundation for industry development, using joint efforts of departments to promote high-quality development of the domestic service industry.

In terms of increasing policy support, we will support domestic service enterprises to innovate service models, explore intelligent scenarios, expand home care services, and cultivate a number of leading domestic service brand enterprises; guide insurance institutions to innovate domestic service insurance products to better provide risk protection for domestic service workers and employers, and effectively protect the legal rights and interests of all parties; support domestic service enterprises to provide long-term care insurance home services and participate in vocational training and vocational skill rating certification for long-term caregivers; improve the social security system for domestic service workers with flexible employment and support participation in employee pension insurance and medical insurance.

In terms of encouraging system innovation and practice, we will support places in a position to do so to explore and improve measures to protect the rights and interests of domestic service workers, formulate employment guidelines for domestic service enterprises, issue domestic service regulation agreements, clearly define the rights and obligations between domestic service enterprises, platforms and domestic service workers; raise the level of openness in vocational education, explore the introduction of high-level domestic service colleges to run schools in China; and support places in a position to do so to establish scientific and standardized domestic service industry statistics systems to provide a basis for macroeconomic policy formulation and scientific decision-making.

In terms of strengthening vocational skills training, we will enrich the supply of vocational skills training resources, support school-enterprise cooperation to build integrated obstetrics and education communities, and innovate talent training models; improve the vocational skills assessment system, update national professional standards related to domestic service in a timely manner, and optimize vocational skill rating certification methods; give full play to the role of human resources service service agencies to explore comprehensive solutions in the domestic service industry in recruitment and employment, skills training, employee management, ability assessment, and human resources service outsourcing; raise the level of competition and promote domestic service related competition projects Incorporate into the National Vocational Skills Competition and establish a multi-level, wide-coverage, all-field vocational skills competition system.

In terms of improving the credit platform system, we will provide credit verification services for domestic service personnel in accordance with the law and regulations, raise the level of standardization of the collection and use of credit information; promote the interconnection of departmental government platforms; and provide true and reliable certification and authorization information.

In terms of consolidating the foundation of industry development, we will revise and publish the “Domestic Service Contract” model text to enhance the operability of the model text; revise national standards such as “Classification and Assessment of Domestic Service Agencies” to promote the application of the “Women's Domestic Service Agency Evaluation” group standards to encourage evaluation work based on standards; support domestic service personnel service quality evaluations to promote service standardization; support domestic service clearly priced according to grade, promote service standardization, meet diversified needs, and protect consumers' legitimate rights and interests.

In the next step, the Ministry of Commerce will work with relevant departments to guide local authorities to earnestly implement the “Policies and Measures”, improve service quality, expand effective supply, and better meet the growing needs of the people for a better life. Thank you.

[He Yadong]: Thank you, Director Kong Dejun, for the introduction. Let's move on to the questioning section. Please inform your news agency before asking questions. Please ask questions below.

[Xinhua News Agency Reporter]: In 2019, the Ministry of Commerce, together with relevant departments, built a domestic service credit information platform. Consumers have always paid great attention to this. What specific measures has the Ministry of Commerce taken to optimize the functions of domestic service credit information platforms and improve the credit information platform system?

[Kong Dejun]: Thank you for asking. The domestic service credit information platform is a key infrastructure to promote safe consumption of domestic service, and it is also the core vehicle for constructing a new credit-based industry management system. In recent years, the Ministry of Commerce has continued to optimize and improve the domestic service industry credit system, and has built a “one database (information base), two ends (domestic servant side and consumer side) and one network (data network)”, which has implemented functions such as registration, information sharing, data inquiry, and online training. Up to now, the platform has collected credit information from more than 20,000 enterprises and 9 million domestic service workers, effectively alleviating the problem of information asymmetry between domestic service supply and demand, and promoting the gradual survival of the fittest in the domestic service market.

Since this year, the Ministry of Commerce, together with the National Development and Reform Commission and other departments, has focused on optimizing and upgrading domestic service credit platforms from the following three aspects and speeding up the establishment of an effective trust mechanism.

The first is to make the process “senseless.” Organize domestic service enterprises to sort out the blockages and difficult issues in the inquiry process, embed the registration and use process of domestic service workers into the domestic service enterprise business management process, integrate “consumers place orders, domestic service enterprises dispatch orders, waiters take orders and simultaneously authorize inquiries, and directly push inquiry results to consumers”, and reduce repeated reporting and applications by domestic service enterprises and domestic servants to the greatest extent possible.

The second is to “value” the information. Improve interdepartmental information sharing mechanisms, establish and improve the domestic service credit information platform system with domestic service credit checks as the “parent platform”, build a “domestic service credit check+departmental authority data+local government information+enterprise application evaluation” structural model, integrate objective credit information from government departments and subjective evaluation information of business entities according to law and regulations, gradually eliminate the “information silos” effect between departments, regions and market players, and provide effective decision-making references for consumers.

Finally, it is to achieve “inclusiveness” of services. For domestic service enterprises with large transaction volume, take the initiative to connect and coordinate data interface solutions one-on-one. For small and medium-sized domestic service enterprises, we actively promote third-party platforms to establish standardized docking programs to support small and medium-sized domestic service enterprises to enter the platform. Targeting key groups such as rural women and community women, give full play to the role of groups such as the Good Women's Federation to promote the “Domestic Service Credit Check” app and mini-program, and guide women engaged in domestic service to register and use domestic service credit information platforms. Thank you!

[Cover News Reporter]: Expanding the number of domestic service workers and increasing the supply of domestic service is an important part of promoting the high-quality development of the domestic service industry. What specific measures are the social services department taking to promote employment in the domestic service sector?

[Shirley Lam]: Thank you for your question. Domestic service is linked to people's livelihood expectations on the one hand and employment needs on the other. It is an important field for attracting workers to work. The Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security has earnestly implemented the decisions and arrangements of the Party Central Committee and the State Council, and actively adopted various measures to guide more workers to increase their employment income in the domestic service sector. In recent years, it has continuously strengthened employment policy support and employment services, carried out in-depth domestic service matchmaking actions to help rural revitalization, continuously strengthened domestic service brand building, and promoted the expansion of employment in the domestic service sector. In the next step, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security will focus on the following tasks: First, guide all regions to implement policies to support employment and entrepreneurship. Domestic service enterprises that recruit key groups, such as people who have difficulty finding employment, enjoy policies such as tax benefits and social security allowances in accordance with regulations. Workers starting businesses in the homewear sector enjoy policy support such as tax benefits, guaranteed loans for starting a business, and site support in accordance with regulations. The second is to thoroughly implement domestic service matchmaking activities. Relying on mechanisms such as East-West labor cooperation, counterpart support, and intra-provincial labor cooperation, we will further build and improve domestic service supply and demand platforms, carry out extensive inter-provincial and intra-provincial domestic service docking, and increase the export of organized labor services. The third is to continue to strengthen domestic service brand building. Guide all regions to strengthen policy support, further improve the quality of brand cultivation, form more unique, large-scale and influential domestic service brands, and play a driving role in good brand demonstration. The fourth is to optimize employment services in the domestic service sector. Strengthen human resources service support, guide human resources service agencies and employment public service agencies to collect and publish domestic service employment demand information in a timely manner, carry out extensive domestic service recruitment activities, and strengthen the accurate connection between supply and demand. Through these measures, the scale of employment in the domestic service sector will be continuously expanded, and the supply of domestic service will be increased. Thank you!

[CCTV News Reporter]: As a trillion-dollar civilian production industry, the domestic service industry plays an important role in expanding domestic demand, stabilizing employment, and benefiting people's livelihood. What key tasks have been carried out by the National Development and Reform Commission in the planning and layout of the domestic service industry, policy formulation, industrial development, etc., and what are the next considerations?

[Xu Xin]: Domestic service concerns the welfare of thousands of households and is an important part of the lifestyle service industry. Promoting the high-quality development of the domestic service industry can not only meet people's livelihood and care needs, but also help stabilize employment, increase income, and expand consumption. In recent years, the National Development and Reform Commission has earnestly implemented the decisions and arrangements of the Party Central Committee and the State Council, coordinated planning, preparation, policy formulation, etc., and continued to promote the high-quality development of the domestic service industry. Mainly the following three areas of work:

The first is to strengthen planning guidance. Give full play to the leading role of the national development plan strategy. The “Outline” of the “15th Five-Year Plan” promulgated this year clarifies requirements such as improving the quality of services such as housekeeping and property, and optimizing the service consumption experience in the fields of old-age care, childcare, and housekeeping. The “15th Five-Year Plan to Expand Consumption” was prepared and introduced to further refine and implement specific tasks such as expanding the supply of high-quality domestic service services, improving the skills of domestic service personnel, improving the domestic service standard system, and cultivating leading enterprises and well-known brands in the domestic service field.

The second is to increase policy support. In the “Opinions on Promoting Capacity Expansion and Quality Improvement in the Service Industry” issued and implemented by the State Council in this year's report, arrangements were made to increase the supply of high-quality services to residents, and specific measures such as raising the energy level of community domestic service development were clarified. Since the 14th Five-Year Plan, the National Development and Reform Commission, in conjunction with relevant departments, has issued and implemented policy documents to promote the integration of domestic service into the community, the integration of industry and education in the domestic service industry, and the transformation and development of the domestic service industry's workforce system to help standardize, standardize, and specialize the domestic service industry.

The third is to promote quality improvement and capacity expansion. Support all regions in conjunction with the construction of embedded service facilities in urban communities, strengthen the layout of domestic service outlets, and open up the “last mile” of domestic service into the community. Support the construction of training bases integrating industry and education in the field of home economics, guide institutions such as the National Open University to step up public service training efforts, and strengthen the training of domestic workers in a demand-oriented manner. Guide all regions to establish contact systems for key domestic service enterprises, guide domestic service enterprises with conditions and intentions to transform to an employee system, and promote more stable and secure employment.

In the next step, the National Development and Reform Commission, together with the Ministry of Commerce and other relevant departments, will continue to “step up support” from three aspects around promoting the upgrading, expansion and high-quality development of the domestic service industry.

The first is to increase support in the implementation of the plan. Closely follow the goals and tasks set out in the “Outline” of the “15th Five-Year Plan” and the “Fifteenth Five-Year Plan” to expand consumption, cooperate closely with the Ministry of Commerce, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security and other departments to promote large-scale domestic service vocational skills training in an integrated manner, accelerate the establishment of industry standards in the domestic service segment, cultivate a number of domestic service enterprises with management standards and service standards, and promote the upgrading of domestic service quality.

The second is to increase support in policy supply. Implement the deployment requirements of the National Service Industry Conference, urgently research and formulate policy measures to accelerate the high-quality, diversified and convenient development of the lifestyle service industry, and provide overall support to the domestic service industry as an important field of lifestyle services; actively cooperate with the Ministry of Commerce to study and prepare relevant action plans to improve the quality and expansion of the domestic service industry, further expand the supply of high-quality domestic service, promote solutions to the problems of insufficient facilitation and low degree of branding of domestic service, and better meet the growing service needs of the masses.

The third is to step up support in the implementation of tasks. In accordance with the division of tasks issued by 9 departments including the Ministry of Commerce and our Committee, the implementation of the work involving our committee is earnestly carried out. In terms of enriching skills training resources, vocational schools and domestic service enterprises will be actively supported to jointly build training bases integrating industry and education, and promote the integration of enterprise needs and service standards into daily teaching. In terms of strengthening credit information sharing, give full play to the role of the “Credit China” website to promptly publicize records of untrustworthy behavior of domestic service enterprises and administrative reward information through domestic service credit columns to help enterprises complete credit repair. Thank you.

[China Securities News Reporter]: Currently, the domestic service industry generally has problems such as instability and low income. What are the health insurance department's measures to support and guide domestic service enterprises to participate in the construction of a long-term care service system?

[Wen Siyao]: Thank you for your question. The long-term care service system you just mentioned is an important aspect of the construction of our long-term care insurance system. In recent years, the National Health Insurance Administration has earnestly implemented the decisions and arrangements of the Party Central Committee and the State Council, actively played the strategic purchasing role of the long-term care insurance system, and enabled the high-quality development of related industries.

In March of this year, the Central Office and the State Administration issued “Opinions on Accelerating the Establishment of a Long-term Care Insurance System”, which clearly takes about 3 years to basically establish a long-term care insurance system adapted to China's national conditions. The long-term care insurance system is not only a major institutional arrangement to respond positively to the national strategy of population aging, but it will also guide and drive the supply-side expansion of services through the large-scale effect of capital accumulation, provide more jobs, and better help the development of the Yinfa economy. In the process of promoting the comprehensive establishment of long-term care insurance, we are continuously strengthening the standardization and management of designated long-term care service agencies, absorbing the forces of all sectors of society, including domestic service agencies, to jointly optimize and improve the supply of long-term care services to better meet the needs of disabled people for care services. At the same time, we are also actively working with relevant departments to establish a new long-term carer career closely linked to long-term care insurance, and promote the establishment of a specialized service team. By the end of June this year, the total number of certified long-term caregivers nationwide had risen rapidly to more than 50,000. Various regions are also actively exploring ways such as establishing differentiated long-term care insurance payment mechanisms linked to vocational skill levels to encourage more workers to improve their skill levels, so that high-quality service personnel can be attracted, retained, and used well.

We welcome eligible domestic service agencies to actively participate in the construction of a long-term care service system to provide home-based care services for disabled people nearby. We also encourage and welcome the vast number of domestic service workers to become members of the long-term caregiver professional team through vocational training and rating certification, so as to better achieve their own career development while providing professional services to families of disabled people. Thank you.

[International Business Daily Reporter]: Service standardization plays a critical role in the industrialization of domestic services. What specific measures does the Ministry of Commerce have in promoting standardization of domestic service?

[Kong Dejun]: Thank you for asking. In recent years, the Ministry of Commerce, together with relevant departments, has included family cleaning, childcare, nursing care, hierarchical evaluation of service institutions, domestic service training, and housekeeping informatization in the scope of key standard revisions. A total of 7 national standards and 17 industry standards in the field of domestic service have been formulated. Since 2021, it has supported 39 enterprises to participate in national standardization pilot projects in the field of domestic service, gradually forming a full-coverage, multi-level and multi-dimensional standard system. Specifically, it is reflected in the following aspects.

The first is to enhance the “advanced nature” of standards. Domestic service places are homes and have strong privacy attributes. This is also a pain point for domestic service enterprises to manage the process and quality of domestic service. In response to this problem, we will support industry associations, domestic service enterprises or third party agencies to explore the boundaries of household security and privacy protection, establish digital files and scientific evaluation systems based on big data, gradually form an operable multi-level service standard system, and promote the innovative and interactive development of standardization and service models.

The second is to enhance the “synergy” of standards. Integrate mature indicators in domestic service standards into vocational skill standards, further optimize vocational skill rating certification methods, increase recommendations and promotion efforts to training and assessment agencies and consumers, and promote collaborative upgrading of domestic service standards and professional standards.

The third is to enhance the “applicability” of standards. Accelerate the revision of the “Classification and Evaluation of Domestic Service Agencies”, guide local industry associations or third party agencies to evaluate the quality of services provided by domestic service enterprises and service personnel based on standards, provide consumers with a clear and quantifiable basis for selection, and further enhance the applicability of the standards.

In the next step, the Ministry of Commerce will work with relevant departments to guide domestic service enterprises and industry intermediaries to participate in formulating standards such as the “Domestic Service General Service Specification for Home Care Services for the Elderly”, “Domestic Service Arrangement and Storage Service Quality Specification”, and “Domestic Service Standards for Domestic Service Enterprises” to better play the basic and leading role in the upgrading and expansion of standardized domestic services, and accelerate the high-quality development of the domestic service industry. Thank you!

[China Report Reporter, China Foreign Literature Administration]: Raising the level of professionalization of domestic service is an important aspect of promoting the high-quality development of the domestic service industry. What specific measures are being taken to promote the professionalization of domestic service by carrying out the functions of the social services sector?

[Shirley Lam]: Thank you for your question. The Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security attaches great importance to the professionalization of domestic service. In 2024, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, together with the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Commerce, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, the National Federation of Trade Unions, and the All-China Women's Federation issued “Opinions on Strengthening the Professionalization of Domestic Service”, which achieved positive results in promoting the professionalization of domestic service in ten areas, including improving the professional standard system, enhancing vocational skills, and promoting standardized development: the domestic service occupation system was continuously improved, and “domestic service managers” were included in the national occupational classification; The training campaign provides vocational skills training for workers who are willing to work in the field of domestic service and personnel already engaged in domestic service; relying on the cross-provincial and regional domestic service vocational skills competition and the National Women's Domestic Service Vocational Skills Competition, a number of provincial domestic service vocational skills competition brands have been cultivated and formed, and a large number of domestic service workers have raised their vocational skills level through the competition. In the next step, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security will earnestly implement the spirit of the National Service Industry Conference and concentrate on promoting the professional development of domestic service in accordance with the requirements of the nine departments “Certain Policies and Measures to Promote the High-Quality Development of the Domestic Service Industry”: the first is to improve professional standards and strengthen professional development. Accelerate the revision and development of national professional standards for domestic service workers and domestic service managers; adhere to professional competency as the guide and actively promote social vocational skill rating certification; and work with relevant departments to support general colleges, vocational colleges, and technical colleges to strengthen domestic service discipline and professional development. The second is to solidly promote special training activities for domestic service vocational skills. Enrich the supply of vocational skills training resources; further strengthen the mapping of workers' employment training intentions; comprehensively implement the four-in-one project-based training model of “job needs+skills training+skill evaluation+employment service” to improve the quality and efficiency of vocational skills training. The third is to strengthen human resources services in the field of domestic service. Implement human resources services+modern service industry plans; organize human resources service agencies in the domestic service sector that are in a position to do so to carry out specialized human resources supply, allocation, management and evaluation services; explore and carry out credit evaluations of operational human resources service agencies, and strengthen the application of hierarchical classification results in the field of domestic affairs. Fourth, give full play to the driving role of vocational skills competitions. A domestic service competition project was set up in the National Vocational Skills Competition, and the National Women's Domestic Service Vocational Skills Competition was held to guide various regions to carry out domestic service vocational skills competitions through multiple channels and forms, raise the skill level of workers, and enhance their sense of professional honor and professional recognition. The fifth is to strengthen the protection of the labor rights and interests of domestic service workers. Guide domestic service enterprises to sign labor contracts or service agreements with hired domestic service personnel in accordance with the law, and standardize employment management. Improve the social security system for people with flexible employment, and increase the participation rate of domestic service workers with flexible employment. Thank you.

[Southern Metropolis Daily Reporter]: What support measures does the health insurance department have for domestic service workers to participate in basic health insurance?

[Wen Siyao]: Thank you for your question. In recent years, the health insurance department has continued to optimize insurance enrolment, and the basic health insurance enrolment rate has stabilized at 95%. In 2025, the number of people with flexible employment and other workers, including domestic service workers, participating in employee health insurance reached 69.82 million, an increase of more than 20 million over the beginning of the 14th Five-Year Plan. In order to encourage flexible workers and people with new forms of employment to participate in basic medical insurance and relieve everyone's worries about medical treatment, we are planning and carrying out special actions to solidly promote the expansion and quality of medical insurance enrolment. On the one hand, improve policies and measures. Continue to push megacities to lift household registration restrictions on flexible workers enrolling in insurance at their place of employment or place of permanent residence. Support domestic service platform enterprises to participate in employee health insurance for domestic service workers with flexible employment in accordance with payment methods such as “individual voluntary+platform subsidy”. At the same time, all regions are also encouraged to include people with flexible employment, etc. in the scope of maternity insurance coverage, pay simultaneously to participate in maternity insurance when participating in employees' health insurance, and enjoy maternity insurance benefits in accordance with regulations. On the other hand, strengthen publicity and mobilization. Encourage all regions to explore and set up health insurance service sites according to local conditions to provide services such as insurance enrolment consultation and payment guidance for people with flexible employment such as domestic service. Joint group organizations, industry associations, platform companies, etc. carry out promotional activities from time to time to help everyone better understand health insurance policies through videos, posters, case explanations, etc., and effectively enhance the sense of access to health insurance for relevant service personnel. Thank you.

[He Yadong]: If there are no other questions, that's all for today's press conference. Thank you to all the publishers, and thank you to all the reporters and friends. Thank you all.

This article was edited by the Ministry of Commerce, Zhitong Finance Editor: Chen Wenfang.