Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what support his Department provides for care in the community for the elderly in China.

The Foreign & Commonwealth Office does not provide direct support for care in the community for the elderly in China. However, this financial year the Foreign and Commonwealth Office has funded three projects that relate to the provision of care to the elderly in China, which all involve collaboration between UK and Chinese partners in the healthcare sector.

The three projects amount to £200,000. It is worth noting that in December British organisations signed deals worth in excess of £100 million during the largest ever healthcare trade mission to China. Given wider demographic trends, the elderly care sector in China is an area of potential future commercial opportunity, to which UK providers are well-placed to respond. Sharing world class British expertise in public healthcare will therefore help to create further commercial opportunities for UK companies in China, which in turn will help safeguard and create jobs in the UK and strengthen the healthcare sector in the UK.