[VCG]

The National Health Commission (NHC) on June 15 launched a month-long promotional activity, with the theme "making childcare services dependable, accessible." Through the campaign, the commission is organizing a series of activities nationwide to increase awareness of childcare services and encourage localities to establish such services based on local conditions. 

China has about 30 million children under age 3, and one-third of those children's families require some level of childcare services. China is working to improve its childbirth-support policy system, while also taking efforts to develop childcare services that benefit all. 

The NHC has released a code of conduct for workers in the childcare industry. Yang Wenzhuang, Director-General of NHC's department of population monitoring and family development, said modern and professional childcare services provided by various social forces are urgently needed because families in China have become smaller, with limited childcare function, during past decades. 

The supply of childcare services should be boosted through multiple channels, and community-based childcare services should be strengthened. The cultivation of childcare talents and medical-institution-based childcare services should be promoted. 

Employers should be encouraged to provide childcare services in the workplace, he said. Local governments, on a regular basis, should monitor and guide childcare institutions in ensuring safety, handling emergencies, and in ensuring their employees' health conditions and professional qualifications, he added. 

In recent years, governments in many regions of China have taken various measures to improve childcare services, and they have accumulated experiences that can be copied by all regions.

(Women of China English Monthly July 2024)

Editor: Wang Shasha