On the evening of 17 September, Acting Consul-General Xu Haiyuan, Director Yin Ji of the Bilateral Relations Section, and Consul Shen Jian attended the closing ceremony of a training programme on “Coordinated Innovation in Elderly Care Services and Industry”. Christchurch City Councillor Sam MacDonald, Chairman of the New Zealand International Training Centre Dr Gan Kaiwan, Deputy Director of the Hangzhou Municipal Civil Affairs Bureau Zhang Zhigang, and around 20 programme participants attended the event.

Xu congratulated the participants on successfully completing their study tour and training programme. He noted that population ageing is a common challenge facing the world. New Zealand has a relatively well-established elderly care sector, with sound systems, diverse service models and a strong emphasis on human-centred care, offering useful experience in many areas. China’s elderly care sector benefits from both institutional strengths and a deep-rooted culture of respecting and caring for older people. China is accelerating efforts to build an elderly care service system that coordinates home-, community- and institution-based care and integrates medical care, elderly care and rehabilitation services. Xu expressed the hope that participants would apply what they had learned, draw on New Zealand's experience in a balanced and practical manner, and contribute to the faster and higher-quality development of elderly care services in China.