Following is a question by the Hon Ginny Man and a written reply by the Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Mr Chris Sun, in the Legislative Council today (March 18):
 
Question:
 
     The Government launched the Residential Care Services Scheme in Guangdong (GDRCS Scheme) in January 2020, and indicated in the 2025 Policy Address the enhancement of elderly care arrangements in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA), including expanding continuously the GDRCS Scheme and increasing the numbers of Mainland residential care homes for the elderly and cities covered under the GDRCS Scheme. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
 
(1) whether the Government will conduct a survey to understand the needs and intentions of the elderly persons in Hong Kong regarding cross-boundary elderly care in places outside the Guangdong Province (such as Guangxi and Fujian), so as to enhance cross-boundary elderly care arrangements; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and 

(2) given that according to the government information, services under the GDRCS Scheme has so far covered all nine cities of GBA, whether the Government has plans to discuss with the relevant Mainland authorities the further expansion of the GDRCS Scheme to more Mainland cities; if so, of the details and timetable?

Reply:
 
President,
 
     The Government implements the Residential Care Services Scheme in Guangdong (GDRCS Scheme) to provide Hong Kong elderly people with more choices of ageing in the Mainland cities of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA).

     According to the National Population Census released in 2021, a majority of Hong Kong residents living on the Mainland resided in Guangdong, where such population was approximately 250 000, accounting for about 70 per cent of the Hong Kong residents living on the Mainland. It is understood that the main considerations of Hong Kong elderly persons opting to reside in residential care homes on the Mainland include the environment and service standards of residential care homes, the convenience of family visits, local medical support and the ease of returning to Hong Kong for medical services when needed.
 
     To ensure the service quality of the residential care homes for the elderly (RCHEs) on the Mainland and safeguard the well-being of the elderly, the Social Welfare Department (SWD) has to carry out enormous work such as inspections, assessments and liaison prior to the Mainland RCHEs' joining the GDRCS Scheme, so as to ascertain whether the service quality of the RCHEs concerned could meet the relevant requirements. For RCHEs that have joined the GDRCS Scheme, the SWD needs to deploy staff to constantly monitor their service quality, including conducting on-site inspections on the Mainland, reviewing reports and documents submitted by the RCHEs, interviewing participating residents of the Scheme to understand their living conditions, and following up on complaints, etc. Should an RCHE's services be found to fall short of the requirements, the SWD will handle this seriously. In addition to issuing advisory and/or warning letters to the residential care home, the SWD will require the residential care home to make improvements, and conduct more frequent follow-up visits to the RCHE where necessary.
 
     Currently, 26 RCHEs in Guangdong have joined the GDRCS Scheme, covering all nine Mainland cities of the GBA. Given the vast expanse of our country, if the Scheme is expanded to other provinces and municipalities not only would the SWD have to commit much greater amount of manpower, administrative and financial resources to inspection and assessment work, but also face significant challenges in effective and sustained supervision.   
 
     Taking into account the key considerations of elderly people's retirement in the residential care homes on the Mainland, constraints of the SWD's limited resources as well as challenges in effective supervision, the Government focuses on implementing the Scheme in the Mainland cities within the GBA at this stage and has no plans to expand the subsidised residential care services to other provinces and municipalities.
 
     The Government all along maintains contact with various stakeholders regarding cross-boundary elderly welfare measures, and have exchanges with the relevant government departments of different Mainland provinces and municipalities from time to time.

Ends/Wednesday, March 18, 2026
Issued at HKT 11:00

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