A robot dog interacts with an elderly woman through voice function in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, Feb 24, 2025. [Photo/VCG]

An international standard for elderly care robots, led by China, has been released by the International Electro-Technical Commission, according to a report by CCTV News on Thursday.

Based on the physiological and behavioral characteristics of the elderly, the standard - IEC 63310, provides a benchmark for the product design, manufacturing, testing and certification of various elderly care robots.

The standard puts forward the classification of function and performance of the elderly care robots, focusing on the needs of daily routine and health care for the elders in the connected home environment.

Besides basic requirements including availability, reliability, accessibility, energy consumption, and noise, health and emergency monitoring services are also provided by the elderly care robots. Moreover, the robots are technically required to offer support on communication, various activities, mobility assistance and data management.

The number of people aged 60 and over is expected to reach 2.1 billion worldwide by 2050, including 426 million people aged 80 and over, according to the World Health Organization. China will promote the development of artificial intelligence technologies for elderly care, according to guidelines by the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the State Council, reported by Xinhua.