The "Performance Guidelines for Active Assisted Living Robots Used in Connected Home Environments" is the world's first international standard for elderly care robots developed by China and officially released in February 2025.

This standard provides a benchmark for the design, manufacturing, testing, and certification of various elderly care robots based on the physiological, psychological, and behavioral characteristics of the elderly, and will lead the healthy development of the global elderly care robot industry.

This standard focuses on the needs and characteristics of elderly people in various aspects such as daily life and health care in the connected home environment, and proposes the functional and performance classification of elderly care robots. In addition to general requirements such as reliability, accessibility, energy consumption, and noise, specific technical requirements have also been proposed: health status and emergency monitoring services provided by elderly care robots, communication support with family members and medical staff, diverse activities such as household chores, entertainment, home management, and care support, mobility support such as going out and assisting, information and data management performance, etc.

As they age, the elderly population will experience varying degrees of functional decline or even disability in perception, physical strength, and cognition. From the perspective of China, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, as of the end of 2024, the population aged 60 and above in the country is 310 million, and the population aged 65 and above is 220 million, accounting for 22% and 15.6% of the total population respectively. According to relevant departments' predictions, by 2035, the population aged 60 and above in China will exceed 400 million, accounting for over 30% of the total population.

The emergence of elderly care robots can not only alleviate the burden of caring for the elderly in society and families, but also support the elderly to have a dignified, independent and high-quality life at home. The implementation of this standard will further lead the creation of a new track for the elderly care robot industry and help create a new curve for global economic growth.

Attachment: Catalog of this standard

The following content is from Deepseek:

What is AAL robot?

AAL robots refer to "Active Assisted Living (AAL) robots", which are a type of robot specifically designed to help specific populations (such as the elderly, disabled, or those in need of life support) maintain independence and improve their quality of life in daily life. It combines technologies such as robotics, artificial intelligence, sensors, and the Internet of Things, and is widely used in homes, communities, or long-term care environments.

1. Definition and Purpose of AAL Robots AAL robots are part of the AAL technology ecosystem. AAL itself is a concept proposed by the European Union and later adopted globally, aimed at supporting the lives of aging societies or people with special needs through technological means.

The core goal of AAL robots is to assist daily life by helping users complete daily tasks such as cleaning, cooking, retrieving items, or reminding medication- Enhance safety: Monitor health status, prevent falls, or alert in case of emergencies- Promote social interaction: reduce loneliness, such as through voice interaction or connecting with friends and family- Extending the independent living time of the elderly: reducing dependence on artificial care. Unlike industrial robots or medical surgical robots, AAL robots place greater emphasis on "non-invasive support" and "user friendliness", typically not involving complex medical procedures.

2. Functions and Characteristics of AAL Robots The specific functions of AAL robots vary depending on their design and application scenarios, but common features include: - Mobility: such as wheeled or walking robots, which can move freely at home- Perception and interaction: Equipped with cameras, microphones, and sensors, capable of recognizing the environment, voice commands, or user status- Networking capability: Connect with smart home devices such as lights and door locks through the Internet of Things to provide comprehensive services- Task execution: ranging from simple tasks (such as water delivery) to complex tasks (such as health data monitoring)- Adaptability: Customized to meet user needs, such as providing navigation for visually impaired individuals or carrying items for those with limited mobility.

3. Relationship with IEC 63310 The IEC 63310 standard mentioned earlier is the functional performance criteria developed for this type of AAL robot, with a particular focus on their performance in networked home environments. For example, standards may specify how robots respond to user instructions, handle data privacy, or ensure operational safety. These robots are usually used for non-medical purposes and have a voltage within the household range (single-phase not exceeding 250 volts).

Number of elderly care robot manufacturing enterprises in China

According to the latest industry white paper and market research data, there are currently about 120-150 enterprises in China that focus on or are involved in the research and manufacturing of elderly care robots (including upstream and downstream related enterprises in the industry chain). The industry is in the early stage, with many startups and low concentration.

Core manufacturers: About 60, focusing on the transformation of intelligent hardware and medical robot enterprises.

First tier: With a large business scale, including Midea Group (with a revenue of 15.731 billion yuan from elderly care robot related businesses in the first half of 2024), Ecovacs (3.397 billion yuan), and Fluorite Network (2.072 billion yuan).

Second tier: Business revenue is concentrated in the range of 100-1 billion yuan, such as Youbixuan, No.9 Company, Xiangyu Medical, etc.

Third tier: Small business scale, including Saiwei Intelligence, Kangtai Medical, etc.

In addition, representative companies include Xinsong Robotics (with layouts for rehabilitation, nursing, and companionship robots), Suzhou Illinois (nursing robots), and Beijing Kangliyoulan (companionship robots).

Regional distribution: concentrated in provinces such as Guangdong (with the highest proportion), Jiangsu, and Zhejiang, with enterprises in CR10 provinces accounting for 78.2%; In the past three years, newly added enterprises have been concentrated in the Yangtze River Delta and Pearl River Delta regions.

Note: The data includes companies with mass production capabilities, some of which are technology companies with cross-border layouts.

Smart Companion Robots Exhibited at the 8th Guangzhou Old Expo

The main types of existing elderly care robots in China

Elderly care robots are mainly divided into the following three categories based on their functions and application scenarios:

Rehabilitation robot function: Assist disabled elderly people in restoring their mobility, such as limb walking aids, walking assistance robots, etc. Application scenarios: Hospitals, rehabilitation centers, typical enterprises such as Xinsong Robotics and DaAi Robotics. Market share: Rehabilitation robots account for 60% of the global elderly care robot market and are a key development direction in China.

Nursing robot function: Provide daily care services, such as electric nursing beds, mobile nursing chairs, health monitoring, emergency assistance, etc. Application scenarios: homes, nursing homes, representative products such as Suzhou Illinois nursing robots. Market size: The market size of nursing robots in China is expected to reach 2.8 billion yuan by 2029.

Companion robot functions: emotional interaction, entertainment companionship, home management (such as medication reminders, voice chat). Application scenario: Elderly households living alone, typical products such as Beijing Kangliyoulan's "Jiabao Robot".

In addition, it can be divided into self-service types (such as rehabilitation training equipment) and assistive types (such as remote monitoring robots) according to usage. The international standard IEC 63310 also proposes that elderly care robots need to have functions such as health monitoring, communication support, household assistance, and mobile assistance.

Intelligent walking assistance robots exhibited at the 8th Guangzhou International Import Expo

Industry Development Trends

The No.1 document on elderly care services in 2025- "Opinions of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council on Deepening the Reform and Development of Elderly Care Services" proposes to accelerate the development and application of elderly care technology and information technology. Research and establish major national science and technology projects related to elderly care services, with a focus on promoting the research and application of technology products such as humanoid robots, brain computer interfaces, and artificial intelligence.

The Chinese elderly care robot market is expected to increase to 15.9 billion yuan by 2029, with a compound annual growth rate of 15%. Future products will develop towards intelligence (such as AI emotional interaction), customization (to meet the needs of different elderly people), and scenario extension (from medical institutions to families and communities).

The above data is sourced from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology's "2025 Blue Book on the Development of Intelligent Elderly Care Equipment" and the statistical report of the China Robot Industry Alliance