Liangjiang New Area Pension Prepayment Deposit Notarization Supervision Model Selected as a National Typical Case

On March 9, the Municipal Civil Affairs Bureau announced that the 2026 National Civil Affairs Work Conference listed 22 exemplary cases of nationwide civil affairs reform and innovation. Chongqing’s Liangjiang New Area was the only city to be recognized for its successful exploration of a prepayment “escrow notarization” supervision model for elderly care institutions. This model introduces a notarization agency as a third-party fund supervisor, effectively preventing and mitigating risks of illegal financial activities in the elderly care sector and providing a new path for healthy development of elderly care services.

“Escrow notarization” refers to seniors or their children depositing prepayments (such as deposits, membership fees, etc.) for elderly care institutions into a fund supervision platform established by the Chongqing Notary Office at a bank. The notarization office manages a dedicated account and issues a fund supervision certificate. When seniors need to make purchases or withdraw funds, they can submit an application on the platform, and the notarization office will promptly disburse or return the funds according to the contract or approval records.

Since 2025, Liangjiang New Area has relied on the country’s first elderly care “escrow notarization” fund supervision platform to explore a new model for prepayment supervision in elderly care institutions, shifting from manual oversight to data-driven management. This model breaks the traditional approach of using A/B accounts or trust models for prepayment funds, integrating notarization agencies into the prepayment supervision scenario. All pre-collected funds are directly deposited into a dedicated escrow account, separate from the institution’s own assets, ensuring that even if the institution goes bankrupt or is involved in litigation, the funds will not be frozen or misappropriated. To date, 3.8825 million yuan of prepayments from elderly care institutions across the district have been managed through the supervision platform.

In terms of collaborative supervision, the platform has established dedicated digital portals for district civil affairs departments, notarization agencies, elderly care institutions, and seniors (or their agents), breaking down information barriers among the four parties and enabling business coordination. The platform visualizes key data such as fund flow, service records, and contract fulfillment, forming a complete closed-loop management process from prepayment, service delivery, to fee settlement, ensuring all parties can monitor real-time dynamics and enhancing mutual trust.

Additionally, this model strengthens judicial safeguards. The platform integrates functions such as online electronic contract signing, issuance of fund supervision certificates, full-process evidence retention, real-time verification, and efficient evidence collection. It seamlessly connects with judicial arbitration procedures to create an integrated legal protection mechanism of “supervision—evidence preservation—arbitration.” In case of disputes, legally valid evidence chains can be quickly retrieved, greatly reducing the cost of rights protection. Through data traceability and transparent processes, it effectively reduces opportunities for power rent-seeking, ensuring that supervision operates transparently.

The selection of this case as a national exemplary model of civil affairs reform and innovation marks the recognition of our city’s efforts in elderly care fund supervision at the national level, providing valuable reference for risk prevention and control across the elderly care industry nationwide.